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HALCYON  BOOK  CONCERN 
HALCYON,  CALIF. 


am:* 

FEB  S    1915 


INDEX 

Angel  of  Healing,   The 68 

Angel   of  the  Path,  The 269 

Answer    Me 166 

Armor  of  Faith,  The 45 

As   Ye  Sow 50 

Ask    and    Receive 1 10 

Ask  Each  Day 160 

Be  Merciful  to  God 24 

Beautiful  Message,  The 235 

Bird   of  Life,  The 44 

Birds  of  Prey 180 

Birth  of  the  Soul,  The 37 

Book    The 104 

Call  of  the  Flesh,  The 107 

Cause   and   Effect 232 

Cease    and    Sing 275 

Central  Flame,  The 148 

Child  of  Love,  The 55 

Children    of    Light 39 

Christ-Born,    The 120 

Christ  or   Judas 80 

Clarion  Call,  A ' 276 

Come 234 

Come    Back 72 

Come  Forth 66 

Come  Forth,  Thou  Christ 240 

Common  Chord,  The 196 

Compassion     90 

Compassion's  Veil 153 

Cross   and   Crown 76 

Cross   of  Fire,   The 91 

Crown,  The 221 

Cyclic  Rounds,  The 218 

Darkness     163 

Dead  in  Life,  The 114 

Death    199 

Debtors    to    Life .  .  .  .  • 155 

Deliverer,    The 27 

Diamond   Soul,   The 178 

Draught  of  Lethe,  The 86 


399504 


NDEX 


Earth-Born   God,   The 40 

Emotion    203 

Endurance     167 

Enter  the  Path 74 

Eternal  Warfare,  The 263 

Face   of   Christ,    The 25 

Faithfulness   149 

Father    iNIine 19 

Father's  Care,  The 223 

Fear    200 

Feast,  The 226 

Find  the  Good 106 

From  God  to  Man 184 

Fruit  of  the  Tree,  The 38 

Fulfilment  by  Faith 230 

Garden  of  the  Soul,   The 266 

Gift  of  God,  The 103 

Gift  of  Life,  The 109 

Give    Way 108 

Goal,    The 52 

God   of   Pain,   The 81 

Grave  of  Sin,  The 175 

Greatest  is  Charity,  The 135 

Great  Moment,  The 233 

God  Still  Lives 64 

God's  Thought 56 

Grow  Wings  and  Fly  High 188 

Guerdon  of  Humility,  The 42 

Guerdon  or  the  Loss,  Tlie 143 

Harp  of  Infinity,  The 49 

Hearken    to    Me 141 

Heart  of  God,    The 185 

Heart  of  A  World,  The 29 

He   Comes 151 

Heights   of  Life,   The 105 

His  Birthright 237 

Higlnvav.     Tlie 1 82 

Hold  High  Tliy  Trust 1 86 

Hold  and  Listen 79 


INDEX 


Homage   of  the   Heart,   The 33 

Holy  Angel  Love,  The 83 

Holy  Flame,  The 75 

Humanity 21 

"I   Have  Kept  The  Faith" 126 

Illusion's    Flames 93 

Inner  Temple,  The 274 

Intervals  of  Life,  The 125 

It 171 

I    Stand   and    Wait 23 

I— Thv    Soul 22 

Jewels   of   Light 96 

Judge  Not 272 

Just  So  Far 222 

Justice    132 

Justice  Reigns 116 

King  Cometh,  The 82 

Latch,     The 14.'5 

Law   Fulfiled,  The 271 

Lens  of  the  Soul,  The 270 

Let     Go 170 

Life  in  Death 152 

Life  Knots   229 

Life's  Demand     220 

Life's  Opportunities    48 

Life's  Shine   and    Shadow 268 

Lift   Thou   Thine   Eves  to  Ciod 262 

Lift  Up  Thine    Eyes 142 

Lift  Up  Your     Heads 71 

Light  of  Life,   The 77 

Light  of  Peace,    The 65 

Light  of  the  Soul 260 

Light  Within,   The 197 

Listen    118 

Little  Things,  The 245 

Living  Christ,  The 131 

Load,   The 224 

Look    Deep <53 

Look   Within 161 


NDEX 


Loose    Him ~53 

Love  and   Hatred 97 

Love  Divine,  The IS 

Love   is   God 239 

Love  the  Avenger 62 

Love's  Abode     57 

Love's  Conquest    tS 

Love's  Offices     207 

Loyalty 157 

Make  Clean  Thine  Heart 84 

Make  Room  for  Me 164 

Man    69 

Message,    The 242 

Milestones,    The • 254 

"Mv     Father" 133 

My  Gifts  to  Thee 231 

M  V  Kingdom   18 

My  "Little  Ones" 26 

Mvsterv   of   Mvsteries 53 

Need   of   Pain,'  The 214 

New   Births 191 

New  Cycle,  A 67 

Next  Step,  The 209 

Nine  Steps,  The 212 

No    Recall 112 

Northern  Windows,   The 162 

Obstruction,  Tlie 211 

Open  Thine  Eyes 129 

Op])ortunity    177 

Pain  of  Progress.  The 265 

Path,    The 88 

Path  is  Hard,  The 99 

Path  of   Dutv.   The 47 

Peace  of  All" Fulfilment,  The 2r)6 

Peace  of  God,  The 173 

Perfect  One,  The 195 

Place  of   Peace,   The 87 

Power  of  Loving,  The 248 

Power  to  Build,  The 1 1 1 


INDEX 


Prayer    138 

Price,  The 2Ki 

Price  of  Love,   The 1  1  i"' 

Pride     73 

Prophecv,    A 78 

Relight  'Thy    Torcli 2G7 

Renunciation     3G 

Rich,     The 179 

Right  to   Seek,   The 202 

Rouse  Ye ■'59 

Scoffer,    The 168 

Search     1  ;"50 

Seek    the    Cause 1 93 

Shadow,  The 165 

Shift  Thy  Load • 1 5  i 

Sing  Soft  and   Low 1 H 

Song  of  Life,  The 2  11 

Sorrow     181 

Soul  of  Song,  The 51 

Soul    Redeemed,    The • 259 

Soul's   Opportunity,   The 91 

Speech   of    Christ^    The 156 

Spiritual    Birth 31 

Stand     Up 101 

Stones  of  Sacrifice,   The 215 

Stream  of  Sacrifice,  The 213 

Stricken  Soul,  The. 169 

Tail  of  the  Dragon,  The 58 

Task.    The 214 

Temple   Plan,   The 174 

Threefold  Warning,  The 172 

Thou  Hast  Done  Well 1  16 

Thou     Wanderer 32 

Thine    Own 92 

Thus   Saith  The   Lord 119 

Thy  Bonds     227 

Thy  Choice     20 1- 

Thy  Crown     110 

Thy  Golden    Opportunity 187 


INDEX 


Thy   Heritage     85 

Thy  Star  and   Mine 35 

Thy  Trust    121 

To"  the  Dead  in  Life 89 

To  Mine     Own 137 

To   the   Neophvte 34 

To  My    Beloved 17 

To    the    World 261 

Trimurti,   The 113 

Truth     183 

Twili(;ht  and   Dawn 249 

Unselfish    Love 273 

Unfinished,    The 201 

Umbilicus,   The 219 

Veil,  The 194 

Veils  of  the  Soul 70 

Victor,    The 216 

Voice   of   God,   The 95 

Warriors   of   Light 278 

Weapons  of  the  Self-Born,  The 134 

Web,     The 198 

What  Doest  Tliou  for  Me  ? 20 

Wheel  of  Suffering,  The 264 

Wheel  of  Time,  The 30 

Where  is  God  ? 98 

Which  of  the  Three 60 

Will   Divine 192 

Will  to  Live,  The 252 

Wine  of  Life,  The 41 

Wing  Thv  Heart  Home 54 

Word    Eternal,   The 189 

Workshop,   The 123 

World   Pain,   The 208 

Wouldst    Thou   Win  ? 225 

Ye    Too 176 

You  Must  Choose 250 

Your    Defeats 258 

Your  Hours    217 

Your    Resjwnsibility 228 


FOREWORD 

THE  following  pages  are  sent  forth  anononiously 
to  the  world  at  large  for  the  reason  that,  in  the 
majority  of  instances,  "we  humans"  only  recjuire 
a  specific  statement  of  fact  to  arouse  in  oiu'  minds  a 
spirit  of  contradiction  or  argumentation  which  at  once 
prevents  us  from  perceiving  or  accepting  the  given  fact 
at  its  true  value.  If  this  can  be  avoided  in  this  instance 
by  withholding  the  knowledge  of  the  real  source  of  the 
contents  of  this  book,  thus  permitting  unprejudiced 
consideration  of  the  messages  imprinted  on  these  pages, 
as  well  as  an  opportunity  for  intuitiion  to  supply  any 
missing  links,  it  is  hoped  that  their  mission  of  service  to 
the  discouraged  and  heart  hungry,  to  the  careless  and 
indifferent,  may  be  accomplished. 

Truth  is  its  own  authority ;  the  light  within  alone  is 
able  to  recognize  the  light  without  in  any  message, 
teachings,  or  teacher.  Thus  the  Divine  in  the  human 
recognizes  and  realizes  its  identity  with  the  Divinity 
cased  in  human  vestments — for  Truth  and  that  Divinity 
are  akin — are  one  in  fact. 

On  the  Scroll  of  Infinite  Duration  is  writtin  in 
letters  of  flaming  life,  the  basic  meaning  of  the  first 
Great  Word — that  Word  which  all  evolving  life  is  spell- 
ing out  in  orderly  sequence,  letter  by  letter,  syllable  by 
syllable,  as  the  ages  pass.  The  higher  consciousness  of 
the  human  soul  is  part  of  that  scroll  of  light,  and  on  that 
plane  understands  its  Unity  with  All — but,  entombed 
in  matter  and  outer  husks,  the  personal  entity,  though 

"trailing  clouds  of  glory  from  afar" 
is  seethed  in  oblivion  and  forgetfulness,  so  far  as  its 
real  nature,  its  inherent  divinity,  is  concerned. 

Wars,  pestilence,  famines  and  cataclysms,  with  their 
attendant  shocks  of  suffering  serve  to  awaken  the  latent 


spiritual  memories  of  man  to  the  fundamental  moral 
meaning  of  existence  by  stilling  the  outer  self  and  driv- 
ing it  in,  and  for  those  "whose  vision  is  single,"  vibra- 
tions of  sound  and  light  come  from  heights  where  stand 
the  Sentinels  of  Life  ever  transmitting  and  modifying 
the  cosmic  evolutionary  forces  to  the  status  and  under- 
standing of  races  and  worlds  on  the  levels  below.  Gently 
but  persistently  descend  those  cosmic  vibrations  into  the 
valleys  where  dwell  the  multitudes.  Ever  and  anon,  the 
inner  ear,  sight  or  feeling,  of  some  one  in  those  valleys 
may  catch  a  tinkle  of  sound,  or  sense  a  flash  of  light, 
or  a  color  of  cosmic  feeling,  falling  from  those  altitudes 
celestial,  and  then — translated  into  terms  of  human  un- 
derstanding— a  new  keynote,  a  higher  impulse,  is  given 
to  human  endeavor  with  deeper  concepts  of  life;  or  it 
may  give  a  more  basic  understanding  of  the  true  phi- 
losophy of  Being;  it  may  mean  an  uplifting  poem  or 
work  of  art,  a  high  musical  inspiration,  a  new  scientific 
truth  or  invention  that  will  further  unify  the  races  of 
the  earth,  or,  in  the  field  of  politics  and  government  be 
rendered  into  terms  of  a  regenerating  principle  and 
plan  for  action  that  will  move  the  world  a  step  nearer 
that  economic  freedom  in  line  with  life's  fundamental 
purpose. 

Eternally  beating,  ever  beating,  the  rain  of  spiritual 
influences  fall  ceaselessly  on  humanity,  refreshing, 
quickening  and  awakening  the  human  more  and  more  to 
his  interdependent  greatness,  spiritually,  morally  and 
materially,  with  all  that  is.  Standing  on  life's  peaks  of 
snowy  whiteness,  where  one  may  look  down — and  under- 
stand, the  Word  thunders  its  truth  to  the  Inner  Self  and 
senses.  In  the  valleys,  however,  are  but  the  faint  whisper- 
ings of  that  truth,  "not  easily  lieard,  and  most  easily  mis- 
understood, yet  the  basic  meaning  of  that  AVord  of  Eife 
is  attainable*  to  all  who  unselfishly  aspire— and  search. 


Brliirat^li  to  jHumanity 


S^d^olJl   I   ^tU0 


^nta  Ei^v^  a  K01J 


TO  MY  BELOVED 

AROUSE  ye!  arouse  ye!  Children  of  tke  New 
Covenant.  Why  stand  ye  in  the  pubhc  places 
idle  throughout  the  busy  day?  The  war  of  the 
ages  is  upon  thee — the  strife  between  the  Sons  of  Uni- 
versal Light  and  the  Brothers  of  the  Shadow.  The  long 
list  of  the  Sons  of  Betrayal,  the  Judas  power  of  the  ac- 
cumulated ages,  hath  its  arms  about  thy  neck  and  is  press- 
ing upon  thy  cheek  the  kiss  that  bringeth  crucifixion. 

Awake!  thou  that  sleepest,  and  the  Logos  shall 
shine  upon  thee.  The  Christ  in  thine  own  soul  whis- 
pers: "Be  of  good  courage,  I  have  overcome  the 
world."  The  days  of  preparation  are  upon  thee.  Gird 
on  that  armor  of  Righteousness  which  is  the  heritage  of 
every  Son  of  the  Living  God,  and  strike  for  the  freedom 
of  the  races  of  the  earth  from  the  clutch  of  the  Beast, 
the  embodied  JVIammon  who  now  holdeth  in  subjection 
the  children  of  Man. 

Think  ye  that  no  protest  rises  to  the  seventh  heaven 
from  the  murdered  Abels  of  the  long  past  ages?  Think 
ye  the  Law  hath  lost  its  power  because  its  judgments 
tarry  long?  Become  one  with  the  law.  Enter  thou  the 
Holy  of  Holies  with  unsandaled  feet  and  covered  head, 
that  the  forces  of  Love,  Law  and  Life  may  flow  unob- 
structed through  the  Stone  of  Sacrifice  upon  which  thou 
standest,  and  the  return  wave  bear  to  thee  the  spiritual 
essence  that  shall  make  thee  free.  In  freedom  lies  thy 
strength. 

The  sword  of  the  Spirit  shall  be  thy  reward,  and  He 
whom  thou  lovest  shall  lead  thee  to  living  waters,  for 
He  is  the  Warrior  of  Light,  the  Unconquerable,  for 
whom  the  hour  shall  never  strike.  He  is  thine  own  true 
Self,  and  when  thy  shadows  flee  away  thou  shalt  be- 
hold the  King  in  His  beauty  and  hohness. 


MY  KINGDOM 


I  BUILT  me  a  nest; — I,  Hamsa — in  the  heart  of 
a  hall  of  lire.  I  hrought  from  far  off  regions  of 
space  huge  relics  of  long  dead  spheres  to  build 
it  strong  and  true  to  the  lines  Infinity  fashions  and 
bounds  all  living  things.  I  lined  it  with  coral  reefs  and 
with  precious  gems,  wrought  by  the  fiery  lives;  I 
brought  fleecy  clouds  from  the  sky  to  soften  and  cool 
the  glowing  stones  to  which  my  nest  must  cling,  lest 
the  Storm-Gods,  angered  by  my  presumption,  should 
tear  it  apart  from  its  foundations  and  scatter  its 
fragments  afar. 

Then  I  sat  me  down  and  waited  in  the  solitudes  of 
Time.  Waited,  till  the  whirling  balls  in  the  sky  above 
had  burst  and  scattered  their  glowing  earthy  embers  on 
the  surface  of  my  nesting  place  and  hemmed  me  in, 
close,  warm,  safe  from  the  baffled  fury  of  the  Storm 
Kings. 

I  brought  forth  my  young;  creeping  things,  plants, 
birds,  fishes,  animals,  and  finally  man.  Then  I  raised 
my  wings  and  soared  away  to  the  heavens  above. 

Now  I  fly  in  never  ceasing  motion  around  my  nest- 
ing place,  watching,  ever  watching  for  the  day  to  dawn 
when  those  I  brought  to  birth  and  gave  the  chance  to 
win  the  heritage  of  the  blest,  shall  look  up  and  see  me, 
and  seeing,  shall  know  me  as  I  am.  Not  as  those  that 
hate  me,  know  me,  but  as  I  AIM  in  truth,  to  lover, 
friend  and  husband,  bride  and  mother;  and,  having 
known  me,  yield  themselves  to  me  in  love,  that  so  at 
last  I  come  into  :MY  OWN,  my  Kingdom,  that  I  loved 
to  life,  long  ages  since. 


18 


FATHER  MINE 

FxVTHER  mine!  though  Thou  hast  cast  me  down 
where  deep  calls  unto  deep  across  the  span  of 
human  woe,  though  Thou  hast  stripped  from  me 
the  mantle  of  protection  Thou  gavst  me,  and  left  me 
naked,  lone,  exposed  to  every  blast;  though  Thou  hast 
given  power  unto  mine  enemy  to  raze  my  home  and 
send  its  beams  and  rafters  crashing  down  upon  my 
shrinking  form;  yet  I  behold  Thine  everlasting,  all 
encircling  arm  outstretched  to  me,  and  through  the 
storms  and  wreckage  of  my  outer  life  I  see  the  Star, 
the  symbol  of  Thy  Power,  that  evermore  must  rise  and 
set  upon  Thy  breast, — the  Star  of  Thy  Nativity — and 
know  that  even  as  its  rays  reach  out  and  lighten  all  the 
vaults  of  heaven,  so  doth  a  single  ray  of  that  same  Star 
reach  out  and  pierce  the  gloom  within  mj^  heart  and 
make  a  nesting  place  of  light  therein. 

A  single  ray!  but  even  so  a  carrier  of  the  voice  of 
God;  a  God  that  speaks  such  words  as  no  mere  human 
ear  can  bear,  yet  speaks  in  tones  my  soul  doth  under- 
stand, and  says — "Fear  not,  for  I  am  with  thee  in  the 
dark  as  well  as  in  the  light,  and  I  will  cover  thee  with 
mine  own  hand  and  keep  thee  safe  against  the  day  w^hen 
thy  betrayer  seeks  the  light  of  that  fair  star  upon  my 
breast  w^hich  leads  to  thee.  For  not  until  thine  enemy 
doth  seek  thee  out  and  bind  the  bruises  made  upon  thy 
tender  flesh,  and  with  repentance  and  rejoicing  brings 
thee  back  unto  thine  own,  can  e'en  a  glimmer  of  that 
Hght  fall  o'er  his  blinded  eyes." 

He  who  doth  strike  his  brother  down  and  leave  him 
to  the  beasts  of  prey,  may  never  find  his  Father's  house 
again,  till  led  by  that  same  brother's  hand  back  to  his 
Father's  feet. 

19 


WHAT  DOEST  THOU  FOR  ME? 


WHEN  Star  struck  Star  and  space  was  quivering 
from  the  shock;  while  flames  were  flashing  red 
and  white-hot  metals  crept  in  streams  between 
the  flery  tongues  which  leaped  from  place  to  place  in 
search  of  food  for  burning;  I  sought  and  found  and 
held  thee  in  the  hollow  of  my  hand  till  once  again  the 
power  of  Water  intervened  and  cooled  the  molten  mass ; 
then  gathered  up  the  remnants  and  formed  another  ball 
on  which  my  feet  might  rest  the  while  1  built  another 
nesting  place  for  thee. 

Another  day  of  time,  when  floods  were  loosed  and 
overwhelmed  the  earth,  on  torrents  fierce  I  rode  to 
rescue  thee.  In  crest,  in  trough  of  wave  I  sought  and 
found  and  tore  thee  from  the  water  demons'  clutch, 
those  demons  of  the  depths  who  seize  and  drag  the  sons 
of  men  down  to  the  ocean's  floor  and  take  their  blood 
for  starring  gems  to  deck  satanic  crowns. 

While  other  Gods  looked  down  on  earth  from  otlier 
suns  in  search  of  portents  for  their  guidance  in  the  war 
of  worlds,  I  sought  thee  out  for  thou  wert  more  to 
me  than  all  dead  worlds. 

Through  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  in  war  or 
peace,  through  blackest  night  and  light  of  day,  in  this, 
another  age,  I  sought  thee  in  thy  wanderings,  paid  thy 
ransom,  brought  thee  home.  And  thou,  what  doest  thou 
for  me? 

Thou  now  hast  come  unto  the  parting  of  the  ways 
and  if  thou  turnest  from  the  way  marked  out  by  me 
and  mine,  then  transient  life  alone  remains  for  thee. 


20 


HUMANITY 

AS  SHINE  the  stars  set  in  my  kingly  crown,  the 
crown  which  my  desire  hath  welded  of  my  con- 
quest of  the  Dragon  of  Illusion,  and  studded  with 
the  jewels  of  thy  sacrifice,  so  shalt  thou,  the  prince,  the 
heir  to  all  my  universe  of  riches,  shine  in  that  great  day 
when  all  mine  own  shall  come  to  me  to  feast  ^\ith  me 
on  viands  all  the  ages  gone  have  grown  from  seed  sown 
in  my  hody  and  watered  by  my  deep  compassion. 

As  vast  as  is  my  kingdom,  even  so  is  vast  the  love 
which  sheltered  and  protected,  conceived  and  bore  thee, 
son  of  mine, — the  fiery  essence  of  that  love  which 
clothes  thee,  as  thou  art  clothed,  with  woven  garment, 
clinging  close  about  thy  form, — the  love  that  all  the 
waters  of  the  misty  deeps  can  never  quench;  the  love 
which  grows,  like  to  the  tree  of  life  whose  topmost 
branches  touch  the  skies,  with  every  day  of  every  age 
that  thou  hast  passed  in  battle  with  the  powers  of  Hell. 

Then  canst  thou  doubt  my  purpose,  scorn  my  mes- 
senger when  every  tree  and  flower  and  living  thing 
points  all  unerringly  to  thought  for  thee,  or  strive  to 
find  some  other  way  to  reach  the  rest  and  bliss  thy  soul 
desires? 

The  poignant  grief,  the  agony  of  spirit  rising  like  the 
ocean's  waves  within  thy  heart,  drawing  from  thy  ten- 
sioned  lips  the  cry  "^ly  Father,"  paves  the  way  and 
floods  the  mile-stones  with  a  light  supernal,  that  thou 
shalt  not  be  hindered  when  thy  face  is  turned  towards 
me,  thy  back  upon  the  fleshly  things  that  strew  thy 
way  and  stay  thy  feet. 

Yea,  even  more,  for  thou  shalt  be  my  crown,  my 
KINGDOM  and  MY  ALL.  Lo;  I  shall  live  in  thee,  as  thou 
in  me,  when  dawns  that  other  day. 

21 


I— THY  SOUL 

THROUGH  vaster  spaces  than  thy  thought-wings 
compass.  Through  the  long  eternities  of  never 
ceasing  motion,  I — thy  soul,  must  wander,  wait- 
ing, ever  waiting  for  the  hour  to  strike  when  thou,  the 
body  linked  to  me  through  all  the  vanished  ages,  may 
clear-eyed  look  into  my  face  and  know  me  as  I  am,  for 
now,  alas!  thou  art  a  living  lie;  the  light  of  truth  is  far 
away  from  thee,  and  thou  hast  taken  of  my  strength 
to  build  that  lie. 

"The  Path"  is  hard  to  tread  for  thee,  for  thou  hast 
made  it  hard.  Thinkest  thou  that  self  same  path  is 
easier  for  me?  I  needs  must  walk  therein  until  thine 
eyes  are  opened,  and  thou  seest  through  the  veil  of  flesh 
which  thou  hast  built  and  closely  folded  round  about 
thee,  lest  thou  be  compelled  against  thy  will  to  see  tlie 
naked  truth;  for  well  thou  knowest  thou  must  shrink 
abashed  and  terror-stricken,  if  its  glorious  light  fall  full 
unon  thee  now. 

But  one  day  surely  that  same  light  will  pierce  the 
veils  despite  thy  frantic  clutch  upon  them,  and  as  thou 
bearest  all  its  searching  beams,  so  wilt  thou  bind  me 
closer  far  to  thee,  or  drive  me  forth  unbound  and  deso- 
late, compelled  to  leave  thee  to  the  Jinns  thou  hast 
evoked. 


22 


I  STAND  AND  WAIT 

LOOK!  my  beloved,  I  stand  at  the  gate  and  wait. 
Wait,  while  my  knees  bend  low,  my  back  bows 
down  'neath  the  weight  of  the  heavy  load  I  must 
bear,  lest  over-weariness  come  upon  me,  the  gate  swing 
shut,  the  latch  fall  into  place,  and  thus  shut  out  for  aye 
some  wayworn  child  who  through  my  entreaties  has 
entered  the  path  that  leads  to  the  mount  of  transfigu- 
ration. 

My  outstretched  hands  must  needs  fend  off  the 
Guardian  of  the  Threshold  lest  he  close  the  gate  ere 
the  threshold  is  cleared  and  leave  but  a  part  of  thy 
mangled  form  on  either  side  of  the  gate. 

Then  canst  thou  not  bring  me  oil  for  my  anoint- 
ing, relief  for  my  straining  muscles  and  a  kerchief  to 
wipe  the  bloody  sweat  from  my  face?  Bring  them  thy- 
self from  the  farther  land.  I  may  not  enter  the  nearer 
land  to  ease  mine  own  self  till  thou  hast  passed  the  gate, 
for  thou  hast  bound  my  body  to  the  gate  supports  by 
the  network  of  thy  weakness. 

I  plead  not  for  release,  but  that  thou  shouldst  bring 
me  the  'kerchief  and  oil, — bring  them  thyself. 


22 


BE  MERCIFUL  TO  GOD 


POOR,  weak  and  fickle,  blind  and  feeble  human 
soul,  not  even  fully  born,  yet  daring  and  defying 
God  in  ignorance  of  the  effects  of  sacrilege  so 
heedlessly  committed. 

The  vaults  of  Heaven  echo  with  the  calls  of  the  re- 
leased who  fain  would  draw  me  from  thee,  saying, 
"What  is  this  man  to  thee  that  thou  shouldst  sacrifice 
thyself  for  him"?  Yet  all  the  treasures  of  the  myriad 
spheres  which  jostle  mine  can  never  yield  to  me  what 
I  M'ould  lose  in  losing  thee. 

]Man  cries  to  God  for  pity  in  his  hour  of  trial,  but 
never  sees  that  God  might  even  cry  to  man  for  pity 
in  an  hour  when  in  his  cowardice,  his  faithlessness  and  in 
ignorance  man  opens  wide  the  door  of  Hell  and  leaps 
therein  in  his  mad  search  for  that  he  never  yet  has 
earned — the  peace  of  all  fulfilment — and  so  compels  the 
Christ,  the  first  born  son  of  God,  to  enter  Hell  again, 
and  yet  again. 

The  loss  of  hand  or  foot  will  often  send  a  man 
despairing  to  his  tomb;  yet  man  will  tear  a])art  the 
heart  and  limbs  and  body  of  his  God,  by  tearing  faith 
and  love  and  mercy  from  his  soul, — the  body  of  his 
God, — and  not  perceive  his  cruelty  until  too  late  to 
stay  his  hand. 

Be  merciful  to  God,  thou  son  of  man,  and  God  will 
mercy  find  for  thee,  in  that  dark  hour  when  all  alone 
thou  standest  forth  to  meet  the  Dweller  on  the  Thresh- 
old of  the  future,  and  battle  for  thy  right  to  live  again 
as  Man. 

24 


THE  FACE  OF  CHRIST 

THROUGH  all  the  long,  long  day,  at  morn  and 
noon  and  night,  ^ve  cry  to  Thee,  Thou  Christ  of 
God.  At  morn  we  hail  Thee  King  and  build  a 
throne  and  seat  Thee  there;  by  noon  we  tear  Thee 
down,  deny  that  we  have  ever  known  Thee,  and,  ere 
falls  the  night,  with  fulsome  flattery  or  jest  we  plant 
the  kiss  of  foul  betrayal  on  Thy  lips,  and  cowardly  or 
stupidly  stand  by  and  see  Thee  nailed  upon  the  cross. 
And  Thou,  each  day  that  we  in  turn  do  crucify  Thee 
afresh,  dost  look  into  our  eyes  with  tenderness,  compas- 
sion, yet  in  sorrow  past  all  telling;  and  nevermore  while 
life  and  reason  last,  may  we  forget  those  eyes  of  Thine, 
those  limpid  pictures  of  the  woes  of  all  the  world,  nor 
fail  to  recognize  that  one  wherein  is  limned  the  part 
that  we  have  played  in  all  that  anguished  woe. 

Ah,  human  race!  how  great  the  price  which  day 
by  day  is  paid  again  and  yet  again  to  raise  each  unit 
of  the  mass  to  heights  where  it  may  see  the  face  of 
Christ  in  every  human  eye,  and  understand  that  only 
by  a  brother's  need,  a  sister's  pain,  can  one  in  justice 
gauge  the  helj)  which  should  be  given. 


25 


MY  "LITTLE  ONES" 


GENTLE,  tender,  obedient,  fit  dwellers  for  the 
habitations  of  light, — though  now  wandering  in 
wild  jungles  where  herd  the  human  beasts  of 
prey,  or  through  the  stony  by-ways  which  thy  brothers 
have  prepared  for  thy  weary  feet,  in  ignorance  of  the 
law  of  final  retribution; — to  thee  and  such  as  thee, 
w^ould  I  speak  a  word  of  promise. 

Though  thine  head  be  now  bowed  low ;  though  thine 
heart  pulsate  with  the  thud  of  the  fallen  stone,  though 
thy  feet  are  torn  and  bleeding, — yet  shall  the  weight  of 
thy  brother's  sin  be  lifted  from  thy  neck,  the  blood  once 
more  course  through  thy  veins  with  the  bounding  life 
of  the  days  of  thy  youth;  and  I,  even  I,  will  cast  aside 
the  stones  from  thy  path  and  deliver  thee  from  the 
power  of  the  human  beasts  of  prey.  Thou  shalt  be  led 
to  altars  set  on  high,  where  thou  mayest  give  thanks  for 
the  glory  shed  upon  thy  life;  and  power  shall  be  given 
thee  to  reach  down  thy  hand  and  help  thy  fallen  brother 
to  thine  own  side  on  the  mountain-top. 


26 


THE  DELIVERER 


WILL   nothing,  life  or  death,   the  lonehness  of 
the  wilderness,  the   screams   of  the  mob,   the 
heights   or  the   depths,  open   the  eyes  of  the 
skeptic  to  the  truth? 

From  the  first  gleam  of  light  thrown  on  the  law 
of  gravitation;  from  the  first  observation  of  the  moon's 
influence  on  the  tides,  life  and  law  have  been  pouring 
out  streams  of  corroborative  evidence  to  every  open 
mind,  to  the  fact  that  "like  seeks  like,"  and  seeks  that 
it  may  kill,  and  kills  that  it  may  raise  to  higher  fields 
of  action,  that  which  it  kills.  In  terror,  in  despan*,  or 
for  the  sake  of  self-indulgence,  man  casts  away  the  only 
prop  that  can  possibly  hold  him  safely  to  the  Path, — 
his  faith  in  God — the  ultimate  Good,  and  refuses  to  see 
that  only  by  the  pain  he  suffers,  the  sacrifice  he  is  com- 
pelled to  make,  (whether  he  will  or  nay),  his  sorrow, 
repentance  and  final  surrender,  can  he  grow  toward 
God  and  can  gain  full  Illumination. 

Like  as  every  grain  of  sand,  leaf  of  tree,  sense  or 
organ  of  body  has  developed  by  stress  and  strain,  and 
all  that  action  of  life  which  impells  to  stress  and  strain 
and  consequent  suffering,  so  it  is  that  all  the  best  in 
man  can  only  groAv  by  suffering;  and  yet  the  slightest 
pain,  the  least  sacrifice,  the  faintest  trace  of  coming 
sorrow  will  arouse  the  demons  in  his  nature  to  activity, 
and  they  will  force  him  to  yield  them  all  of  their  de- 


27 


THE  DELIVERER 

CONTINUED 

sires  (however  hard  the  blows  he  strikes  at  their  behest 
must  fall  upon  some  other  suffering  soul)  ;  until  the 
hour  of  his  deliverance  has  come. 

If  all  the  power  he  arouses  at  the  call  of  those 
demoniacal  forces  might  be  turned  in  the  right  direction, 
the  pain  would  vanish,  the  sacrifice  become  joy  past 
telling,  the  desire  for  self-indulgence  change  to  spiritual 
satisfaction,  but  Fear,  the  paralyzer,  seizes  him  in  its 
grip  and  only  requires  a  breath  of  suspicion  to  cause 
him  to  relinquish  his  power  and  all  that  he  has  hitherto 
beheved  in  or  hoped  for.  Make  way  for  the  Deliverer. 
Enthrone  the  power  of  Endurance. 


28 


THE  HEART  OF  A  WORLD 

TREAD  softly,  my  child;  breathe  lightly,  mine 
own.  The  sacred  place  of  a  breaking  heart  hath 
power  to  bow  down  the  heads  of  Angels,  to  hush 
the  wild  shrieks  of  the  Demons,  and  hold  e'en  the  Ham- 
mer of  Thor  suspended  in  space  when  the  last  fretted 
strand  is  parting. 

Be  still,  little  ones,  you  are  standing  today  on  most 
holy  ground,  for  the  INIother-heart  of  a  world  is  break- 
ing, and  with  it  thy  Father's  heart. 

The  Devas  are  raising  the  altar,  and  gathering  the 
incense,  grain  by  grain,  as  'tis  wrung  from  the  sweat 
of  despairing  Souls;  and  the  stars  are  clearing  a  path 
through  the  heavens  that  the  Holy  Fire  may  descend 
and  kindle  the  Living  Sacrifice  of  broken  and  contrite 
hearts.  In  the  smoke  of  its  burning  the  "seeing"  eye 
may  descry  a  vision  of  Law  fulfilled  and  of  Love,  re- 
deemed from  bondage  to  sense,  enthroned  forevermore. 

Go  softly,  be  silent  my  child.    Behold,  and  listen! 


29 


THE  WHEEL  OF  TIME 


Restless,  Unsatisfied,  Faithless  Children: — 

KNOW  ye  that  no  power  can  stop  the  Wheel  of 
Time  to  which  I  as  well  as  thou  art  bound  se- 
curely by  fetters  of  our  own  forging?  The  more 
thou  strainest  at  the  fetters,  the  more  they  will  cut  into 
thy  quivering  nerves  and  flesh.  By  twisting  thy  tor- 
tured form  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  some  other  way  which 
thou  thinkest  may  haply  lie  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Wheel,  thou  dost  only  succeed  in  crushing  thy  head 
between  the  spokes. 

Will  ye  leave  me  again  as  ye  have  so  oft  before,  to 
bear  the  burden  of  your  woe  alone,  while  you  go  back 
to  the  slimy  depths  of  the  under-world  amid  the  creep- 
ing things  that  weave  their  webs  of  Lust,  Avarice  and 
Selfishness  about  you — till  ye  are  helpless  in  their 
meshes,  and  bound  more  helplessly  than  ever  upon  that 
Wheel  from  which  ye  seek  release? 

O  that  my  words  were  arrows  that  they  might 
pierce  your  hardened  hearts, — that  my  thoughts  were 
flames  of  love  that  they  might  kindle  the  dead  embers 
on  the  cold  altars  of  vour  souls! 


30 


SPIRITUAL  BIRTH 


LET  NOT  weariness  of  flesh  or  travail  of  Soul 
plunge  you  into  sloughs  of  despair  or  discourage- 
ment. Ye  cannot  yet  behold  the  dawn  of  new 
life — the  fruition  of  your  long  travail. 

Know  ye  not  that  the  spiritual  man  cometh  to  birth 
in  the  silence,  coldness  and  darkness  of  the  Soul's  mid- 
winter, as  doth  the  new  life  of  the  tree  which  seemeth 
cold  and  dead,  whilst  within  the  shelter  of  trunk  and 
branch  a  new  life-stream  is  rising,  which  shall  bring 
forth  healing  and  beauty  when  the  long  winter  be 
passed?  Think  ye  the  future  foliage,  flower  and  fruit 
hath  knowledge  of  the  newly  risen  life-stream  which  is 
to  bring  them  forth  from  the  unseen,  the  unmanifest? 

It  is  ever  he  who  is  willing  to  lose  his  life  that  shall 
find  it.  The  pure  life-stream  which  sprang  forth  from 
Infinity  may  be  dammed  up  by  willful  evil,  and  made 
a  receptacle  for  vile  refuse,  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  of 
human  infirmities,  and  can  only  be  clarified  by  pain, 
anguish  and  toil. 

Tear  down  thine  own  peculiar  dam,  whate'er  it  cost 
thee,  that  the  stream — purified  by  thy  toil  and  suffer- 
ing— may  again  flow  back  to  its  source,  bearing  on 
its  bosom  thy  cargo  of  experience,  and  receiving  in  re- 
turn the  impulse  to  new  life,  new  birth. 


31 


THOU  WANDERER 

COME  back  to  me,  my  child!  Thou  wanderer — 
come,  ere  falls  the  night  of  life,  and  all  enwrapped 
with  shadows  dense  thou  canst  not  see  the  way. 

As  deep  hath  called  to  deep  across  the  centuries  of 
time,  so  have  I  called  to  thee,  and  in  thine  egotistic 
blindness  every  path  save  one, — the  right  one — draw- 
eth  thee  afar  from  me,  and  I  must  fain  stand  still  and 
see  thee  go  to  certain  sorrow. 

The  star  which  draws  thee  now  is  not  the  liome 
thou  seekest,  nor  canst  thou  reach  the  nearer  star  where 
I  now  stand,  unless  thou  now  wilt  take  my  hand  and 
let  me  lead  thee  home. 

I  do  not  threat  thee,  child  of  mine,  but  with  my 
soul  in  arms  against  thy  foes,  I  plead  with  thee  to 
turn  thy  back  on  all  the  voices  of  the  night,  and  though 
it  be  on  sharpened  rocks  which  pierce  thy  feet,  retrace 
thy  steps — come  back  to  me. 


32 


THE  HOMAGE  OF  THE  HEART 

TIllXK  not  to  gird  the  laurel  leaves  of  earthly 
fame  upon  the  brow  of  him  whom  countless  hosts 
of  Light  hail,  "Victor!"  in  Life's  lists.  What 
careth  he  for  things — for  sense  illusions?  Purified  by 
fire,  bereft  of  pride,  what  king  of  earth  or  angel  of 
the  skies  hath  power  to  lead  him  to  the  throne  where 
jNIaha  Deva  awaiteth  his  appearance? 

Alone,  unheralded,  he  came  upon  the  screen  of 
time ;  alone  he  lived  and  died ;  alone  he  must  ascend  the 
steps — the  spheres  strewn  with  the  vanquished  and  the 
slain  of  long  past  ages. 

Each  hard  fought  vantage  ground  he  wins  gives 
footing  to  another  who  hard  beset  doth  follow;  each 
plunge  into  the  stream  which  flows  from  Maha  Deva's 
head  doth  shower  with  cleansing  drops  some  other  weary 
soul  too  weak  to  reach  their  source. 

The  homage  of  thine  heart  alone  will  strengthen 
him  for  future  battles  with  the  hostile  dAvellers  on  "The 
Path"  who  fain  would  stop  his  way.  Love  imparteth 
strength  for  stern  endurance  and  he  may  not  lay  down 
his  arms  and  crown  himself  until  you  too  stand  by  his 
side,  a  conquerer  in  truth. 


33 


TO  THE  NEOPHYTE 

TO  ATTAIN  tlie  goal  of  perfection— that  goal 
where  the  consciousness  of  mortal  man  identifies 
itself  with  all  the  purity,  power  and  glory  of  the 
divine,  the  inner  Self, — the  candidate  must  pass 
through  the  Fires  of  Renunciation  which  alone  can 
yield  the  Waters  of  Regeneration  wherewith  the  sin- 
stained  sheathes  of  Soul  are  purified.  While  passing- 
through  the  fires  or  struggling  in  the  waters.  Victory 
will  seem  unattainable. 

A  silence,  vast,  deep,  incomprehensible,  comes  over 
the  neophyte  wlien  the  supreme  test  of  patient  endur- 
ance of  pain  and  suffering  is  at  an  end;  his  arms  clasp 
but  empty  air  as  he  raises  them  beseechingly  to  the 
Great  Self  for  succor,  for  strength  to  bear  the  unut- 
terable loneliness  that  envelops  and  falls  like  a  pall 
about  him.  But  it  will  pass,  aye,  pass  it  must,  and  in 
the  peace  that  succeeds  each  hard  won  fight,  there  comes 
a  sense  of  knowledge  and  power  unspeakable — the 
guerdon  of  the  travailing  soul. 

The  indescribable  sadness  which  invariably  follows 
each  successful  battle  with  the  lower  self  is  natural ;  for 
as  the  candidate  mounts  each  rung  of  the  ladder  of 
sentient  life,  he  must  grope  around  in  the  darkness  for 
the  next  rung  upon  which  to  place  his  weary  feet,  until 
the  eye  of  the  soul  is  able  to  see — beyond  the  darkness — 
the  star  that  shines  overhead,  the  Star  of  Initiation. 


34 


THY  STAR  AND  MINE 


WHEREFORE  pourest  thou  forth  streams  of 
wrath  upon  thy  brother's  head — when  amidst 
the  flashing  gems  that  deck  the  Mantle  of  the 
Gods,  he  finds  a  single  one  more  })eautiful  to  his  simple 
vision  than  all  the  starry  host  that  thou  dost  worship? 

But  for  a  difference  in  degree,  the  same  light  shin- 
eth  through  each  and  all — the  same  hand  guideth  all. 
The  brilliant  galaxy  might  w^ell  blind  a  too  sensitive  eye, 
when  the  mild  beams  of  a  single  star  in  an  azAire  field, 
would  fall  with  tender  blessings  into  depths  where  soul 
sight  yet  was  holden.  Rejoice  with  him  that  he  hath 
seen  even  the  first  glimmer  of  light,  and  whisper  to 
thine  own  lieart:    "Be  still." 

The  King  hath  many  crowns,  each  of  different  hue 
and  guise.  The  one  he  gives  to  me  would  ill  become 
mv  Lord— the  Warrior  of  the  Skies. 


35 


RENUNCIATION 

IT  IS  not  by  renouncing  the  thing  of  lesser  value  nor 
those  pleasures  whose  edges  have  become  dulled  to 

the  cloyed  senses,  that  the  narrow  path  to  the  Gods 
is  made  plain.  That  path  lies  hidden  within  thine 
heart  and  many  tendrils  of  intense  desire  must  ruth- 
lessly be  torn  apart  ere  its  golden  portals  be  disclosed. 

Do  not  think  that  any  unselfish  effort  for  others  is 
ever  lost  or  wasted.  As  the  rose  attracts,  holds,  and 
then  gives  forth  its  life  in  terms  of  fragrance  and  beauty, 
so  does  the  aroma  of  every  true,  unselfish  act  ascend  as 
sw^et  incense  to  the  footstool  of  the  Gods — to  return 
with  added  power  as  blessings  for  humanity. 

"He  that  loseth  his  life  shall  find  it,"  for  it  is  only 
by  renunciation,  only  by  waiting  in  the  darkness  when 
there  is  no  light,  until  the  Way  opens  and  the  shadows 
disappear,  bearing  the  pain,  loving  the  causer  of  the 
pain,  that  the  light  from  the  great  Father-love  can 
break  through  the  Christ  to  thee,  thou  child  of  Christ. 

On  the  first  mount  thou  shalt  find  a  Cross;  on  the 
second  mount,  thy  Transfiguration. 


36 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  SOUL 


WHEN  Eros,  the  Star  of  Love,  flashes  a  gleam 
of  hght  into  the  hidden  chamber  of  the  heart,  it 
stirs  to  hfe  and  action  the  sleeping  Soul  therein. 
With  tender  touches  Love  plumes  the  pinions  of  the 
Soul  for  flight  to  some  other  point  in  space  where  yet 
another  Soul,  lost  in  slumber,  awaits  its  coming — for 
Love  alone  can  bring  the  Soul  to  birth. 

Ye  daily  clasp  the  hand  and  gaze  into  the  eyes  of 
soulless  beings.  But  too  often  the  riven  casket  alone 
remains  to  mark  the  spot  where  once  dwelt  the  Splen- 
dor of  God— driven  thence  by  lack  of  sustenance:  for 
the  Soul  hath  need  of  daily  food  no  less  than  hath  the 
body.  That  which  imparts  life,  sustains  life— and  Love 
is  Life. 


37 


THE  FRUIT  OF  THE  TREE 

THE  Wisdom  apj^les  of  the  Tree  of  Life  hang 
high  on  the  topmost  boughs,  and  only  he  who  has 
won  the  power  of  far-reaching  and  strength  for 
high  climbing;  only  he  who  can  keep  his  head  cool  and 
clear  and  his  feet  from  slipping,  can  pluck  and  eat  of 
that  fruit. 

It  is  the  daily  food  of  the  Gods  and  only  the  God- 
like man,  armed  with  a  purified  will,  can  prevail  over 
the  Dragon  that  eternally  guards  the  roots  of  that 
tree. 

On  its  lower  branches  hang  the  silver  apples  of 
Knowledge,  and  he  who  hungers  for  that  fruit  must 
pluck  it  with  the  hand  of  Experience,  gained  through 
ceaseless  search  for  hidden  causes  in  the  hearts  of  people 
and  things. 

He  must  find  and  destroy  the  worm  of  self  coiled 
in  the  core  of  the  apple  he  has  plucked,  and  win  the  soul 
power  of  discrimination  for  by  that  alone  can  he  find 
the  Seed — the  matrix  wherein  is  accomplished  the  birth 
of  Hermes,  or  Wisdom. 


38 


CHILDREN  OF  LIGHT 

FREEi  born  children  of  Light,  what  have  ye  to  do 
with  darkness?  Darkness,  the  distorted  offspring 
of  Hate  and  Pride ;  darkness,  the  illusive  ensnarer, 
the  bertayer  of  mind,  the  glamor  which  blinds  and 
leads  into  hopeless  captivity  the  struggling  soul;  then 
leaves  it  to  beat  its  tender  wings  against  gross  form  until 
exhausted  it  sinks  into  apathy  or  despair. 

Ye  are  Gods !  Death  hath  no  power  over  ye,  condi- 
tions cannot  bind  ye;  ye  are  Masters  of  Destiny  if  ye 
so  will.  Rulers  over  divine  kingdoms.  No  God,  no 
devil  can  banish  ye  from  it  or  wrench  it  from  ye — but 
alas!  ye  may  renounce  it  by  refusing  to  rule  in  right- 
eousness and  peace. 

Ye  are  beyond  the  law  for  ye  are  Spirit,  and  Spirit 
is  liberty,  but  mark  ye.  Liberty  is  not  License,  it  is  self- 
surrender,  selflessness,  unity,  while  License  begets 
separateness,  the  great  heresy. 

Lay  not  thine  head  in  the  dust  of  the  earth,  for  so 
the  armies  of  the  Shadow  shall  trample  ye  under  foot. 
Go  forward  with  faith  and  lo!  the  serried  ranks  of  the 
Hosts  of  Light  shall  encompass  ye,  and  together  ye 
shall  win  in  the  battle  of  the  ages. 

The  Christ  shall  lead  thee,  He  who  holdeth  the 
hearts  of  men  in  his  keeping  and  will  not  let  them  go, 
thine  own  true  self,  the  AVarrior  of  Light. 


39 


THE  EARTH-BORN  GOD 

REASON'S  votaries — blind  leaders  of  the  blind — 
shepherdless  sheep,  straying  in  barren,  waterless 
wastes,  in  treacherous  quagmires;  making  dwel- 
ling places  at  the  foot  of  fiery  mountains,  at  the  mercy 
of  the  Demons  who  are  but  sleeping,  or  in  the  beds  of 
old  rivers,  the  waters  of  which  shall  once  more  return 
and  overflow  their  banks; — know  each  of  you,  that  the 
wild  beasts  of  the  forests,  the  hzards  sunning  them- 
selves on  thy  thresholds,  interpret  the  signs  of  the  times 
far  better  than  thou — thou  who  hast  enthroned  earthly 
reason,  and  cast  down  the  God  of  ancient  Wisdom, — 
thou  who  hast  set  on  high  the  darkness  of  the  lower 
mind  and  quenched  the  Light  of  Intuition! 

The  wild  beast  fleeth  from  the  ])ath  of  the  storm; 
thou  seekest  that  path  upon  which  to  build  thy  resting 
place;  nor  canst  thou  flee  if  thou  wouldst,  for  thou  hast 
weighted  thy  feet  with  the  lead  of  possessions,  and  art 
caught — as  it  were — in  a  net  of  things. 

What  boots  it  to  thee  that  a  warning  voice  from 
the  mountain  top  rings  out  again  and  again;  thou  canst 
hear  but  the  clink  of  Gold  in  the  Market  place  and  the 
beguiling  voice  of  thine  earth-born  God — human  rea- 
son. 


40 


THE  WINE  OF  LIFE 


LISTEN,  My  Beloved:— 
Pour  not  with  lavish  hand  upon  the  earth  the 
wine  of  life, — that  sparkling  draught  thy  mother 
Maia  gave  thee  at  hirth  for  strength  and  succor  'gainst 
thine  hour  of  need. 

The  dregs  that  remain  within  the  cup  art  but  vile 
refuse,  unfit  to  feed  gross  swine  upon,  though  still  may- 
hap retaining  some  faint  flavor  of  the  wasted  wine. 
And  if  too  vile  too  feed  to  swine,— how  canst  thou  offer 
such  a  gift  to  God,  or  lay  it  on  Life's  stone  of  sacrifice  ? 

To  the  pure  heart,  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth  are 
pure;  and  if  thine  heart  be  pure,  the  cup  of  wine  will 
overflow  and  turn  to  streams  of  light  while  still  within 
thy  grasp,  carrying  life  and  healing  on  their  waves  far 
down  the  distant  centuries  of  time. 


41 


THE  GUERDON  OF  HUMILITY 

HEARKEN    unto   me,   thou   who   standest   with 
straightened    neck  in   the   path   of   the   coming 
Tempest,  the  powers     of  which  are  seeking  to 
equihbrate  the  varied  forms     of  life-forces  thou  hast 
called  into  action. 

Bend  low  thine  head,  lest  the  Daemons,  the  Satel- 
lites of  the  Storm  King  strike  at  thine  eyes  and  destroy 
thy  clear  vision, — and  thou  canst  not  find  the  path 
which  leadeth  to  safety. 

Pride  ever  precedeth  destruction.  Only  when  thou 
hast  gained  the  guerdon  of  true  humility  canst  thou 
stand  erect  in  safety, — for  then  only  hast  thou  power 
to  don  the  Armor  of  sure  protection — the  Armor  of 
Compassion. 


42 


THE  LOVE  DIVINE 


CAN    the   Rose   tree   burst   into   bloom   if  turned 
downward  in  the  earth? 

Can  the  Coral  Polyp  attach  its  reef  to  the 
clouds  of  the  air? 

Can  Water  freeze  in  the  path  of  the  Electric  bolt? 

Xo  more  can  man  live  without  love. 

Xo  more  can  man  attain  his  full  spiritual  growth 
away  from  the  rays  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  the 
warmth  of  Infinite  Love,  than  he  can  attain  to  phys- 
ical perfection  if  shut  away  from  light  and  air. 

From  that  love  emanated  the  first  impulse  of  his 
being;  in  it  must  eventually  be  absorbed  the  last.  He  may 
exist  for  a  time  in  ignorance  of  that  love,  but  he  will 
not  realize  what  life  means, — for  to  such,  only  a  cold 
negative  existence  is  at  most  possible  on  earth,  and  a 
hopeless  looking  forward  to  final  annihilation ;  for  with- 
out Love  tliere  is  no  life  either  here  or  hereafter. 


43 


THE  BIRD  OF  LIFE 

THINKEST  thou,  child  of  my  soul,  to  climb  the 
steep  path  to  thy  Father's  home  with  thy  feet 
weighted  with  the  viscid  mud  of  the  under- world? 
Thinkest  thou  to  reach  thy  Father's  heart  by  means  of 
the  power  thou  hast  filched  from  thy  weaker  brother — 
or  that  thou  canst  reach  Love's  heights  through  Ha- 
tred's depths?  Build  thou  a  nesting  place  in  thy  broth- 
er's love,  and  the  overshadowing  wings  of  the  Bird  of 
Life  will  cover  both  thee  and  him.  If  thou  buildest 
elsewhere,  the  tierce  talons  of  the  Bird  will  tear  asunder 
and  scatter  the  fragments  of  that  nest  to  the  four  winds 
of  heaven;  then  shalt  thou  be  left  homeless  and  com- 
fortless, and  thy  brother  sad  and  lonely,  for  thou  hast 
robbed  him  of  that  which  is  his  by  right  of  the  divine 
brotherhood  which  dwelleth  within  his  heart  as  well  as 
witliin  thine  own. 


44 


THE  ARMOR  OF  FAITH 


IF  THY  nearest  and  dearest  friend  stand  in  its 
path,  the  same  snake  that  strikes  its  poisonous  fangs 

into  thy  tender  flesh,  will  strike  at  thy  friend  with 
redoubled  power  gained  through  the  life  blood  thou 
hast  unwittingly  yielded  up. 

Protect  thy  friend,  as  well  as  thyself,  by  clothing 
thyself  with  the  impenetrable  armor  of  implicit  faith. 

A  single  snowflake,  carelessly  rolled  amidst  others 
of  its  kind,  exposed  to  rain,  and  left  to  the  power  of  the 
Ice  King  for  a  time,  will  make  a  missile  with  which  thou 
may  est  fell  a  giant. 

A  careless  gesture,  a  thoughtless  word  rolled 
amidst  others  of  like  character,  exposed  to  the  wither- 
ing blasts  of  a  foul  mind,  may  strike  down  and  cripple 
the  soul  thou  lovest  best. 


45 


LOVE'S  CONQUEST 

Pl'^ACK  and  Power  come  swiftly  to  the  man  who 
hfteth  his  sister  from  the  depths  of  her  despair, 
to  i)lant  her  feet  on  the  first  step  of  the  ladder 
of  Renunciation.  The  Law  of  Compensation  will  one 
day  set  his  feet  on  the  highest  step  of  that  same  lad- 
der— the  step  that  leadeth  to  the  door  of  the  Inner 
Sanctuary. 

AVoe  and  Ketri})ution  fall  swiftly  upon  the  head 
of  that  woman,  who,  to  enhance  her  own  value  in  the 
eyes  of  the  one  her  eyes  are  fixed  upon,  wantonly  de- 
stroys his  trust  in  the  honor  of  another.  The  murdered 
trust  will  arise  from  its  tomb  in  mighty  power  to  avenge 
the  wrong. 

With  joy  and  gladness  shining  as  the  gems  of  a 
coronet  upon  their  placid  brows ;  with  feet  shod  with  the 
sandals  of  full  reparation; — upward,  always  upward, 
passeth  the  two  made  one,  who  have  vanquished  their 
deadliest  foe,  and  raised  from  its  ashes  the  Peace  of 
Purity, — who  have  built  in  their  hearts  a  nesting  place 
for  the  Bird  of  Love,  and  opened  their  ears  to  the  mys- 
tery and  splendor  of  the  Song  of  Life, — that  joyous 
song,  the  first  sweet  notes  of  which  break  down  for- 
ever the.  wall  of  separation  between  two  souls,  uniting 
them  in  the  single  stream  that  floweth  ever  onward  to 
the  Ocean  of  Tufinitv. 


46 


THE  PATH  OF  DUTY 

WOULDST  thou  turn  thy  face  away  from  thine 
earthly  love  at  the  bidding  of  another?  If  so, 
thou  art  not  worthy  of  that  love. 
How  much  less  worthy  then  art  thou  of  spiritual 
love,  if  so  be  thou  fleest  from  the  path  of  duty  at  the 
behest  of  another  who  hath  not  even  won  the  power 
to  discern  the  path  wherein  he  himself  might  most  per- 
fectly unfold.  How  much  less  power,  then,  hath  he  to 
guide  thee  aright. 


47 


LIFE'S  OPPORTUNITIES 

LIFE'S  opportunities,  like  angel  visitants,  pass 
swiftly,  silently, — and  if  we  fail  to  catch  the  first 
faint  echo  of  their  coming  footfalls,  or,  all  un- 
trained to  action  swift,  we  fail  to  seize  and  force  them 
to  reveal  their  hidden  power,  their  passing  is  for  aye. 
They  are  tlie  spans  hy  which  our  lives  are  measured 
— a  ladder  straight  and  long — with  one  step  leading 
into  Heaven,  and  yet  another  reaching  down  to  Hell, 
— the  mile  stones  'twixt  our  puny  littleness  and  the 
measureless  largeness  of  God. 


48 


THE  HARP  OF  INFINITY 

FORGET  not,  child  of  my  heart,  that  thou  art  a 
builder  of  worlds: — that  millions  uncreate  await 
but  the  touch  of  thy  fingers  on  the  strings  of  the 
Harp  of  Infinity  to  sirring  into  being  as  Paeans  of 
Victory   and  Life,   or   discords   Satanic,   which   needs 
must  end  in  evil  and  death. 

Strike    full   clear    tones,    that   thy   place   may   be 
opened  in  the  Choir  of  Heaven. 


49 


AS  YE  SOW 

HE  WHO  dips  his  pen  in  the  bitterness  of  gall 
and  wormwood  and  therewith  destroys  the  peace 
of  his  brothers,  by  the  same  act  opens  the  latent 
centers  of  poison  in  his  ow^n  aura,  l)ringing  upon  him- 
self disease  and  spiritual  degeneracy.  The  pen  will 
turn  to  a  sword  which,  though  it  pass  through  his  broth- 
er's heart,  will  lie  embedded  in  his  own  at  last. 


50 


THE  SOUL  OF  SONG 


WOULDST  thou,  Musician,  sing  the  Song  of 
Life,  in  tones  that  gods  and  men  may  hear  and, 
hearing,  thrill  with  rapture?  Then  thou  must, 
by  long  and  patient  plodding,  strive  to  reach  the  inner- 
most recess  of  every  congery  of  force — of  every  thing 
and  being,  and  reaching  it,  to  make  thyself  a  part  of  it. 
Thou  canst  not  sing  a  tone  of  it  aright  if  separated 
from  the  Soul  which  is  its  life ;  for,  rising,  falling,  swell- 
ing with  an  agony  of  bliss,  the  tone  called  forth  from 
hidden  places,  responds  in  fullness  only  to  a  soul  more 
hungry  than  itself;  and  called  by  such  an  one  it  rushes 
forth  and  intermingling  with  that  other  Soul  it  rises 
in  a  glorious  burst  of  sound  too  fine,  too  strong,  for 
mortal  ears  to  hear  and  bear. 


51 


THE  GOAL 

AS  POIXTETH  the  mariner's  needle  to  the  white 
Star  of  the  Xorth,  however  the  waves  of  the 
ocean  swell  or  the  winds  of  heaven  roar,  so  must 
thou  point  thy  will  to  the  Star  of  thine  ambition.  In- 
stability and  change  may  be  thy  brother's  pleasure,  but 
they  should  find  no  place  in  one  whose  feet  are  strongly 
set  upon  the  Path  of  God.  Ah!  take  thou  thought,  set 
thine  ambition  high.  Love  and  Peace  will  be  worth 
infinitely  more  to  thee  than  myriads  of  lesser  prizes, 
however  brightly  their  reflected  light  may  glow  before 
thine  earthlv  eves. 


52 


MYSTERY  OF  MYSTERIES 


POOR,    desperate,    self-tortured    Human    Heart; 
large  with  the  largeness  of  God,  narrow  as  the 
path    of    eternal    hfe!       Selfishly    grasping    the 
straws  of  life  for  thine  own  glory,  carelessly  sacrificing 
thy  Royal  inheritance,  unwitting  that  such  sacrifice  is 
the  crown  of  thy  life-series  of  mistakes. 

Blind,  yet  having  the  power  of  infinite  perception; 
dumb,  yet  possessing  the  sweetness  of  Angel  tongues 
or  the  virulence  of  Demon  speech. 

Mystery  of  Mysteries  art  thou;  truly,  thy  name  is 
Legion,  thy  nature  Incomprehensible. 


53 


WING  THY  HEART  HOME 

WING  thy  Heart  home,  thou  wanderer  in  desert 
places.  Though  needles  of  sharp  cacti  pierce 
thy  feet,  and  scorching  sands  fill  thine  eyes; 
though  not  a  living  thing  speak  thee  guidance,  yet  shalt 
thou  find  the  path  and  keep  it  to  the  journey's  end. 
For  where  the  heart  hath  found  surcease,  there  must 
perforce  the  weary  body  follow.  So,  once  again,  I  say, 
wing  thy  heart  home,  mine  own. 


54 


THE  CHILD  OF  LOVE 

WHEN  your  gratitude  to  me  becomes  a  subject 
for  reasoning — when  you  can  convince  your- 
self that  you  have  earned  or  deserve  that  which 
has  been  given  you  in  love, — then  have  you  thrown 
down  the  Angel  of  Selfishness  and  set  up  an  Idol  to 
Self. 

As  gushes  forth  the  spring  of  water  over  the  thirsty 
soil,  heedless  of  where  its  drops  may  fall,  delighting, 
revelling,  in  its  power  to  give,  even  to  the  uttermost, 
so  gushes  from  the  heart  of  the  child  of  love,  pure  grati- 
tude. 


55 


GOD'S  THOUGHT 

AH,  LITTLE  one!  God's  latest  thought.  Ah 
soul  reborn  on  earth  from  infinite  domains!  dost 
think  thou  camest  hence  thyself;  hence  to  a  world 
of  woe?  God  thought  thee  into  being;  winged  thy  soul 
with  love  and  sent  thee  on  the  way  to  find  those  other 
thoughts  of  His — thy  brother  men,  and  intermingling 
with  them,  form  a  pool  wherein  the  Light  which  lights 
all  the  world  mav  be  reflected. 


56 


LOVE'S  ABODE 

MV  LITTLE,  ones,  sit  ye  here  with  me  in  the 
twihght,  while  peace  falls  as  a  curtain  over  the 
turmoil  of  the  day.  Let  the  softly  whispered 
"Hush!"  of  earth  and  sky  fall  on  your  inner  ears  as 
your  heads  are  bent  for  the  benison  of  the  brooding 
Spirit  of  Rest.  I,  too,  w^ould  speak  to  thee,  weary  foot- 
sore traveler  o'er  stony  places  and  desert  sands. 

I  have  seen  thine  ujDlifted  hands,  have  heard  the 
low  cry  which  passed  unheeded  by  those  most  near, 
most  dear,  to  you,  and  would  say  again  and  yet  again — 
seek  not  surcease  from  pain  and  longing  in  the  haunts 
of  men,  the  hearts  of  women,  for  it  is  not  there. 

Dig  deep  through  the  encrusted  layers  of  your  own 
souls  till  you  find  the  spot  which  Love  hath  chosen  for 
its  dwelling  place — the  nesting  place  of  the  Infinite. 
Ah,  well  I  know  the  tale  is  trite  and  old.  Too  oft  hath 
it  fallen  on  unheeding  ears.  But  it  is  ever  new  to  some 
sad  soul,  and  when  you  have  found  that  spot,  it  will 
be  all  things  to  you,  for  it  holds  the  Key  to  the  beginning 
and  end  of  thy  travail, — to  the  unspeakable  heights  and 
depths  of  the  manifest  Universe, — the  glory  of  the 
Shekinah — the  crown  of  thine  own  and  all  other  lives. 


57 


THE  TAIL  OF  THE  DRAGON 

THE  tail  of  the  Dragon  is  coiled  about  the  Star 
of  Destiny.  Down,  down  through  the  fields  of 
space — through  the  ranks  of  the  Rishis  is  that 
Star  now  (h-awn. 

Howl,  ye  sons  of  ^len,  ye  Daughters  of  Earth! 
War,  Panic,  Desolation  cometh  upon  you.  In  the 
market-places  will  ye  cry,  "Xine  loaves  of  bread  for 
a  penny,"  and  there  will  be  none  to  take. 

Ye  call  upon  the  Lord  with  your  lips  and  defile 
His  image  with  your  hands!  Ye  dash  down  the  cup 
of  Life  from  the  lips  of  your  brethren,  and  will  not 
drink  thereof  yourselves!  Ye  call  out  "Liar,  Thief, 
xVdulterer!"  while  ye  are  liars,  thieves,  adulterers.  Ye 
are  thieves,  for  ye  steal  the  fair  fame  of  your  brethren; 
ye  are  adulterers,  for  ye  cohabit  in  lust  of  mind  and 
eye,  and  l)ring  forth  spawn  of  Hell  for  your  brethren's 
corruption. 

Ye  seek  a  sign  and  are  blind  to  the  signs  ye  have 
received. 

Liars  and  hypocrites,  who  sit  in  high  places!  the 
Dragon  will  bring  you  low.  Your  measure  is  all  but 
full,  and  Mercy  draweth  close  the  veil  over  her  face  till 
your  times  are  fulfilled. 


58 


ROUSE  YE! 

POOK,  pett}^  figment  of  matter  enmeshed  in  mud 
of  thine  own  making!  Ye  would  draw  down  the 
stars  to  minister  to  your  puhng  cries!  Ye  ask, 
but  will  raise  no  hand  to  receive  the  offered  gift!  Ye 
listen,  and  hear  naught  but  the  echo  of  your  piping 
voices.  Cowards!  Renegades  from  the  battle  of  life — 
unworthy  the  great  sacrifice  offered  you!  Ye  turn  and 
run  from  a  kitten's  claws  into  the  mouth  of  a  hungry 
wolf!  Unstable  as  water,  fickle  as  wind,  neither 
Heaven  nor  Earth  hath  room  for  you — while  in  truth, 
ye  lay  back  on  your  earthy  oars  in  pitiable  self-suffici- 
ency and  cry  "Ho,  Comrade!  Behold  how  great  a  man 
I  am!" 

Rouse  ye!  Mount  as  have  mounted  the  suns  now 
circling  in  motion  swifter  than  thought  in  yonder  vaults! 
Shine  as  doth  shine  those  flaming  thoughts  of  God  that 
people  the  aisles  of  Heaven;  for  ye  are  of  God,  and 
all  power  is  yours  if  ye  seek  aright! 


59 


WHICH  OF  THE  THREE? 

HO!  Soldiers  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Great 
White  Lodge! 

Know  ye  not,  the  War  of  the  Ages  is  on? 
The  warriors  are  hning  up  for  battle.  Where  do  ye 
belong?    Are  ye  warriors  of  Light  or  of  Darkness? 

Are  ye  banner  men  of  true  and  loyal  heart,  or  are 
ye  cowards,  traitors?  Can  ye  grasp  and  hold  the  colors, 
the  words  of  truth  brought  to  you  under  fire,  bind  them 
on  the  hilts  of  your  swords,  emblazon  them  on  the  ban- 
ners ye  bear,  and  stand  forth  to  battle  for  them  with  the 
natural  foe  of  your  common  humanity? 

Go,  with  the  Rallying  Cry  of  the  Red  Ray  on  your 
lips,  the  light  of  high  purpose  flashing  from  your  eyes, 
ready  to  do  or  to  die,  as  seemeth  best,  upon  tluit  field 
above  which  soars  the  gage  of  battle — the  Soul  of  man! 

Or  will  ye  steal  from  the  ranks  while  the  war  cry 
is  sounding,  kill  the  bearer  of  the  Orders,  seize  and 
hide  the  message  in  your  own  selfish  hearts  until  ye 
find  a  safe  i-etreat  wherein,  secure  from  other  eyes,  ye 
may  gloat  over  it  as  misers  o'er  their  gold,  under  the 
delusion  that  ye  are  saving  your  souls  alive? 

Will  ye  join  in  the  din  and  strife  of  the  battle,  raise 
your  voices  to  stifle  the  moans  of  your  comrades,  reck- 
lessly trample  the  wounded  'neath  your  feet,  pile  up 
the  bodies  of  the  slain  to  cover  your  retreat  to  the 
enemy's  ranks,  all  unknowing  the  fate  that  is  closely 
following  your  steps? 

60 


WHICH  OF  THE  THREE? 


The  grains  of  corn  now  in  process  of  grinding  by 
Nemesis,  flow  fine  as  mist  into  the  bins  the  avenger  has 
built  and  the  blood  of  the  slain  in  battle  will  yield 
230wer  for  the  milling. 

To  which  of  the  three  divisions  dost  thou  l)elong? 
I  ask  thee.  Thee — each  in  turn,  enlisted  soldiers  of  the 
Army  of  the  Great  White  Lodge,  thou  must  answer  the 
question.  Thine  own  soul  makes  demand  and  will  not 
be  denied. 


61 


LOVE  THE  AVENGER 


GODS  iiuiy  thuiuler,  xViigels  may  whisper,  "thou 
shalt  not,"  "1  pray  thee  not"  to  awakened  pas- 
sion in  tlie  human  heart,  yet  the  glamour  cast 
by  elemental  fiends  over  tlie  mind  of  men  and  women, 
first  narcotizes,  then  drives  them  on,  on  to  satisfaction 
and  satiation,  and  finally  into  hells  of  their  own  mak- 
ing, such  as  devils  might  envy  them  the  power  to  make. 

For  God — Love — is  a  jealous  God.  In  so  far  as 
God  is  jealous,  he  is  jealous  for  Love's  sake,  for  Love 
is  higher  than  any  God  conceived  by  mortal  mind;  and 
Love  betrayed  by  passion  surely  bringeth  vengeance 
upon  the  betrayer — venegance  that  will  eat  the  heart, 
as  worms  may  eat  the  vitals  of  tlie  dead.  Passion  grati- 
fied at  the  expense  of  Love — illicit  love — will  turn  to 
gall  within  the  human  breast  and  embitter  life,  at  every 
turn,  and  worst  of  all,  it  will  destroy  the  very  marrow 
in  the  bones  of  the  soul.  It  will  leave  a  man  or  woman 
without  a  vestige  of  self-respect,  and  in  place  of  the 
self-respecting  man  there  M'ill  arise  a  prating  effigy,  a 
simulacrum,  a  thing  without  a  soul. 

Stretch  out  your  trembling  fingers,  ye  passion- 
tossed  of  tlie  world. 

Twang  the  strings  of  that  harp  of  the  soul,  until  it 
has  lost  the  pure  tone  that  the  Angels  of  the  Throne 
attuned  it  by,  if  ye  Avill,  and  then  quiver  in  agony  at 
the  harsh  discords  your  fingers  will  thereafter  draw 
from  that  dishonored  harp. 

You  must  play  u])on  it  whether  you  will  or  nay, 
and  the  key-note  by  which  its  strings  might  be  attuned 
is  beyond  your  reach,  if  liove  has  been  abased,  and 
vengeance  has  fallen. 

62 


LOOK  DEEP 


CHILD  of  Earth,  look  deep!    The  scum  of  a  pool 
always  rises  to  the  surface.    Be  not  deceived  by 
that  which  lieth  close  at  hand,  but  search  the  si- 
lent, waveless  depths  beneath,  wherein  lies  thy  peace. 


63 


GOD  STILL  LIVES 

AROUSE  thee!    thou  who  sittest  in  the  darkness. 
Bestir  thyself  and  weep,  if  smiles  are  no  more 
possible.    Better  far  that  thou  shouldst  moisten 
thy  parched  soul  with  tears,  than  brood  o'er  vanished 
joys  in  silence  and  despair.    The  future  yet  remains  un- 
tried— and  God  still  lives. 

Inaction  breeds  despair,  which,  like  all  other  life- 
less things,  must  quickly  he  entombed,  ere  like  a  poison- 
ous plant  it  shall  destroy  all  life  within  its  sphere. 


64 


THE  LIGHT  OF  PEACE 

HE  WHO  i^repareth  a  place  for  me,  to  him  will  I 
come  in  peace.  Light  from  on  high  shall  shed 
its  radiance  o'er  his  dwelling  place,  and  he  shall 
lie  down  in  sheltered  places.  Darkness  shall  flee  away, 
as  fleeth  the  conscience-smitten  from  the  law,  and  the 
glory  of  righteousness  shall  deck  his  form  as  with  a 
garment  sewn  with  precious  gems. 


65 


COME  FORTH! 

C031E   forth  from  your  hiding  places,  ye  whom 
Lucifer  hath  frighted!    Know  ye  not  that  dark- 
ness and  the  hght  of  day  can  never  dwell  to- 
gether in  one  place  ?    And  ye  did  seek  the  darkness,  and 
tiie  peace  of  nonfulfilment  when  the  demon  Fear  as- 
sailed and  sandaled  you  with  coward's  gear. 

Light  is  fire,  and  fire  will  burn;  but  better  far 
for  thee  the  burn,  the  pain,  the  longing,  than  dark- 
ness and  the  ease  it  brings;  whicli,  wliile  it  soothes  to 
sleep,  will  steal  thy  crown  of  life  and  hide  it  where 
thou  canst  not  seek,  then  softly  laugh,  when  thou,  with 
outstretched  arms,  art  wandering  midst  the  outer 
s])heres,  a  formless,  shadowy  thing,  bereft  of  name,  of 
liome.  of  all  but  semi-consciousness. 


66 


A  NEW  CYCLE 

THE  eventide  of  a  cycle  has  passed  and  the  rays 
of  the  morning  sun  of  a  new  cycle  are  tinging 
the  horizon  of  your  lives.  Whate'er  of  shadow 
still  remains  in  memory's  vaults,  will  iielp  to  soften 
the  aftermath  of  the  high  noon  days  to  come,  and  serve 
as  a  screen  on  which  to  limn  the  outlines  of  a  higher 
ideal  than  those  you  have  pictured  in  former  days,  if 
so  be  you  have  gained  the  Spiritual  Will  that  can  wield 
the  brush  of  pure  Desire  aright.  But.  Beloved,  bear 
well  in  mind  the  note  of  warning  I  now  sound — never 
dip  that  brush  in  the  heart's  blood  of  another  human 
being.  That  blood  would  darken  and  spread  o'er  the 
form  you  limned  till  naught  but  a  dull,  red  smear  would 
remain  to  mark  its  place. 

Witli  brave,  strong  hand,  dip  the  holy  brush  into 
the  infinite  depths  of  Love's  sacrifice  of  Self,  draw  the 
lines  straight  and  true  by  the  rules  of  the  Higher  Self, 
and  an  Ideal  will  flash  forth  upon  that  screen  of  the 
Soul,  too  strong,  too  ])eautiful.  mayhap,  for  other  eyes 
than  thine  to  bear,  yet  pregnant  with  a  radiant  stream 
of  life  that,  lieing  born,  will  reach  and  feed  all  starv- 
ing hearts  witliin  your  spliere  of  touch. 


67 


THE  ANGEL  OF  HEALING 

WOULDST  thou  court  the  Angel  of  Heahng 
for  thy  suffering  friend?  Then  bring  not 
gifts  of  sorrow's  choosing,  such  as  doth  al- 
ready sore  afflict  thy  friend;  for  so,  the  Angel  first 
must  heal  thine  own  infirmity  ere  passing  to  thy  friend, 
for  in  the  bringing,  thou  hast  bound  the  gifts  so  close 
about  thy  form,  they  can  no  more  be  separate  from 
thee  until  the  healing  Angel's  touch  hath  struck  thy 
fetters  down  and  set  thee  free. 


68 


MAN 


WALKING  shadows  of  things  that  might  have 
been ;  potential  forms  of  things  that  are  to  be, — 
God  and  man  in  one.  Paradox  supreme  art 
thou,  amidst  a  universe  of  paradoxes.  Creatures  of 
an  hour,  fast  digging  graves  with  your  own  hands 
your  forms  must  fill.  Angels  of  eternity  fast  build- 
ing thrones  your  souls  will  grace.  Who  can  measure 
your  heights  or  sound  your  depths,  thou  mystery  of 
mysteries? 


69 


VEILS  OF  THE  SOUL 

CHILDREN  mine,  with  iiiinds  so  like  as  yet  the 
gaseous  state  of  this  Dark  Star,  when,  countless 
a?ons  gone,  the  vapory,  shifting  masses  sejiarated, 
and  to  all-seeing  eyes  disclosed  a  dazzling  tongue  of 
iiame,  a  softly  shimmering  light  with  here  and  there  a 
peak  or  pinnacle  of  glowing  fire,  which  hid  a  power 
unspeakahle.  Aeons  hence,  a  nearer  balance  will  be 
struck  between  you  and  the  world  in  which  you  live. 
The  seeming  vapory  shadows  veiling  soul  from  soul, 
are  in  reality  but  background  for  the  liglit  concealed, 
a  background  upon  which  the  vagaries,  tlie  dreams  of 
man  may  fall.  But  tlie  shades  will  lift  and  pass  away 
forever  when  Light  and  Soul  become  again  the  One, 
as  in  the  far  away  beginning. 


70 


LIFT  UP  YOUR  HEADS 

CAN  ye  see  the  faint  Hush  of  the  daybreak,  ye 
Children  of  Light?  It  hangeth  low  in  the  cos- 
mic darkness  as  yet,  but  eyes  not  holden  may 
catch  a  gleam  of  its  brightness,  ears  not  dulled  hear 
the  clarion  note  in  the  distance.  The  Day  Star  is  ris- 
ing, rising,  rising,  and,  though  sky  and  earth  seem 
drenched  with  blood-red  reflections— the  first  emana- 
tions of  darkness — the  golden  light  cometh  to  redeem, 
to  sanctify,  to  bless  the  hard-pressed  children  of  Maya. 
Lift  up  your  heads,  strengthen  your  weakened 
knees,  bind  closer  the  burdens  ye  bear,  turn  your  eyes 
to  the  East,  and  watch,  wait  and  work. 


71 


COME  BACK 


COjME  back  to  me,  my  children,  wandering  now 
in  trackless  wastes,  without  guide  or  compass 
save  thy  pride,  thy  self-sufficiency.  Not  e'en  the 
sun  in  heaven  can  cut  its  deep  wide  swath  alone,  but 
needs  must  hold  its  place  by  power  of  other  brighter 
suns.  And  thou,  poor  foolish  one,  because  thou  canst 
not  always  see  a  golden  gleam  of  light  upon  the  path 
I  laid  'twixt  thee  and  me,  must  darken  more  that  path, 
that  life,  by  all  the  pain  and  anguish  thou  canst  lay 
upon  it;  and  then,  alas,  cry  out,  there  is  no  path,  no 
light,  no  loving  Father's  hand  to  guide,  to  hold,  to 
cheer  amid  the  shadowy  way  of  life,  both  you  and  I 
must  tread,  together  or  alone. 


11 


PRIDE 


FAR  better  were  it  for  thee,  would-be  Child  of 
the  Stars,  wert  thou  covered  with  the  filth  of 
sensuality,  or  the  foul  corruption  of  the  market 
places,  than  that  thou  shouldst  stand  upon  the  heights 
of  worldly  power,  and  loudly  cry  unto  thy  brethren, 
*'Behold  my  virtue,  bow  to  my  accomplishments,  bend 
low  thy  back  that  I  may  tread  dry-shod  the  slimy  pool 
in  which  thou  art  engulfed." 

The  pride  which  strips  thee  of  all  likeness  to  the 
Blessed  Ones,  will  drag  thee  lower  far  than  lieth  now 
the  meanest  of  thv  brethren. 


73 


ENTER  THE  PATH 

HEARKEN  thou  to  the  resonant  voice  of  the 
Silence  of  Life,  the  voice  of  the  Warrior  hold 
which  calleth  to  thee  from  the  Place  of  Peace, 
powerfulh%  pleadinglj^  bidding  thee  open  thine  ears, 
conquer  thyself,  make  room  in  thine  heart  for  the  bloom 
of  th}^  soul  long  budded,  and  wearying  sore  for  the 
power  of  fruition — the  power  by  which  thou  canst  see 
my  face,  and  grasp  the  sword  I  hold  in  my  hand.  The 
power  of  the  self -born,  the  warrior  bold,  alone  can 
open  the  close-shut  door  of  the  hidden  garden  of  life, 
and  shelter  give  to  the  sorely  pressed  of  earth. 

Enter  the  Path;  though  the  way  may  be  rough,  the 
end  will  bring  thee  power  and  peace  and  joy  ])ast  hu- 
man telling. 


74 


THE  HOLY  FLAME 


SONS   of  my  soul,  my  tears,  children  of  my  tor- 
ment, why  will  ye  not  hasten  to  lay  the  wood  and 
coals  of  fire  upon  the  Seven  Horns  of  mine  Altar, 
that  I  may  descend  and  bring  again  the  Holy  Flame 
to  kindle  them. 

'Till  ye  lay  wood  and  coals  of  fire  upon  the  Seven 
Horns  of  mine  Altar  of  your  own  free  will,  I  must 
stand  and  wait. 

With  all  the  loud  voices  of  earth,  sky  and  sea.  I 
cry  unto  you,  while  ye  but  stand  and  gape  at  each 
other,  and  fill  your  ears,  that  ye  may  neither  see  nor 
hear  when  Kamsa  steals  that  which  is  mine  ow^n,  and 
that  which  one  dav  ve  would  give  a  kingdom  to  possess. 


75 


CROSS  AND  CROWN 


CHILDREX  mine,  desperate  hunted  things, 
weak  supine  exhausted  ones,  tortured,  tempted, 
stricken  creatures.  Hear  me  while  yet  I  can 
speak  to  you.  Passion  crazed,  you  go  from  seeming 
flower  to  flower,  knowing  not,  caring  not  that  you  go 
from  hell  to  hell,  and  are  so  going  because  you  have 
not  yet  the  courage,  the  strength,  the  will,  to  look  the 
demons  of  those  hells  in  the  face,  grasp  their  throats, 
and  FORCE  them  back  into  their  strongholds. 

One  among  a  thousand,  a  man  or  woman  can  see  his 
or  her  only  chance  lies  in  "throttling  the  great  Beast." 
As  long  as  you  can  suffer  a  single  qualm  from  the  poi- 
son your  friend  has  placed  in  your  cup  of  life,  as  long 
as  your  enemy  can  find  a  tender  spot  on  your  exposed 
parts  in  which  to  plant  a  dagger,  you  are  helpless,  un- 
guarded. 

As  long  as  a  word,  a  look,  a  blow  or  a  caress,  can 
start  the  blood  madly  bounding  through  your  veins, 
you  are  naught  but  tender  nestlings,  bound  to  be  de- 
voured by  man  and  beast. 

Hear  me.  Strive  to  learn  to  i.ove  pain.  Open 
your  hearts  to  crucifixion,  that  you  may  so  seek  the 
Strength  which  is  in  truth  vour  Real  Life. 


76 


THE  LIGHT  OF  LIFE 


SENSATION'S  offspring,  child  of  Earth  thou  art, 
tliough  wrapped  in  fold  on  fold  of  starry  light. 
Thine  outer  vesture  masks  a  spirit  stronger  far 
than  that  which  holds  it  hound  hut  holds  it  only  through 
its  lack  of  love  and  power  of  sacrifice  sul)lime,  the  love 
and  sacrifice  which  is  thy  life,  thine  all. 

Regain  the  poise,  the  equilibrium  wiiich  held  thy 
soul  in  balance  true  with  all  that  lives  and  breathes; 
and  which  thou  parted  with  in  ignorance  of  all  that 
foul  ambition's  curse  would  bring  to  thee  and  thy  be- 
loved. Strike  for  the  freedom  which  is  thine  by  birth- 
right pure,  and  be  no  longer  held  by  filmy  threads 
which  stay  thy  steps  and  will  not  let  thee  go. 

The  light  of  Life  is  all  about,  within  and  over  thee. 
Open  wide  the  portal  of  thy  soul  and  send  that  light, 
like  blessed  dew,  upon  thy  brethren  wandering  now  in 
parched  and  desert  places.  It  will  return  to  thee  ten- 
fold the  brighter,  bringing  on  its  waves  the  joy  of  life's 
fulfilment.  But  if  thou  hidest  it,  and  w^ill  not  let  it 
shine  for  others  now  in  darkness,  it  will  but  focus  all 
its  power  upon  thy  selfish  heart,  and  only  ashes  will 
remain  to  tell  the  long  sad  tale. 


n 


A  PROPHECY 


DRAWN  by  will  of  the  Uaityas  from  the  utter- 
most ends  of  Maya's  realms,  swiftly  foregather 
the  clouds  in  the  Eastern  sky,  hiding  the  light 
of  the  sun  from  the  holden  eyes  of  men. 

"Ha!  Ha!"  laugh  the  Daityas,  "no  God,  no  servant 
of  the  Lahs  can  free  the  earthborn  from  our  power, 
for  we  have  o'ershadowed  the  source  of  their  life;  now 
can  we  stand  and  watch,  while  the  brown  and  yellow 
slaves  of  our  will  w^reak  vengeance  on  those  who  defy 
our  power." 

Cry  aloud,  ye  sons  of  earth,  for  the  crashing  of 
arms,  the  curses  of  the  frenzied,  the  shrieks  of  the 
murdered,  now  ascend  to  the  fast-barred  gates  of 
Devachan,  and  the  Gods  heed  not,  for  the  hour  of 
judgment  is  not  yet  passed.  But  hold!  the  Purified 
comes,  to  ])iu-st  asunder  the  chains  that  bind,  to  tear 
from  their  fastenings  the  bars  of  those  gates.  Then 
must  awaken  the  Gods  who  sleep,  for  the  new  day 
will  dawn.  With  swift  flight  will  they  come  to  the  deso- 
lated earth;  with  their  breath  will  they  drive  back  the 
Daityas  to  their  dwelling-place.  They  wnll  open  the 
inner  and  outer  heavens,  and  pour  down  food  and  drink. 
They  will  })ind  up  the  wounds  of  the  smitten,  and  bring 
the  Holy  Fire  for  the  Altars  long  defiled.  Peace  and 
contentment  will  dwell  on  the  eartli  for  a  thousand 
rounds.  I^ove  will  conquer  hate;  and  again,  as  of  old, 
will  the  Gods  dwell  with  man. 

78 


HOLD,  AND  LISTEN 


HO!  YE  who  hunger  and  thirst  for  the  enthroned 
"TRUTH;"  and  yet  look  backward  longingly 
into  the  gulf  ye  leave,  ere  lifting  foot  to  take 
an  upward  step:  Ye  hesitate,  or  dare  not  stir,  lest  ye 
should  meet  Truth's  searching  eye,  and  statid  revealed 
unto  yourselves. 

Ho!  Coward,  server  of  the  god  of  Time,  fouled 
with  thy  satiated  lusts,  and  (huik  with  hell's  fulfilled  am- 
bitions— hold,  and  listen! 

Ho!  Ye  weary  and  faint-hearted,  clutching  in  thine 
hand  the  emptied  shell  of  that  which  held  thy  faith; 
too  tired  now  to  seek,  too  weak  to  reach  Desire,  sink- 
ing 'neath  the  weight  the  world  hath  lain  on  such  as 
you:  Listen  all!  to  one  who  knows  full  well  the  thirst, 
the  hunger  and  the  heat;  to  one  who  knows,  and  once 
has  waded  blindly  through  the  sloughs  of  sin.  Listen 
ye  to  one  who  climbed  the  cross  of  earth's  incessant 
woe,  and  nailed  his  body  there  for  fellow  men  to  smite; 
who  drank  the  cup  ye  are  too  tired  to  lift,  e'en  to  its 
dregs;  who  merged  desire  for  death  into  desire  for  life, 
and  made  the  cross  a  key  to  song  immortal;  to  one 
who  learned  that  even  cowardice  and  shame  might  lea]) 
the  gulf  between  the  Hero  and  the  slave  by  consecrated 
strife,  and  bind  the  wreath  of  all  fulfilment  on  his  brow. 

STRIKE  OL^T— all  ve  who  hear  and  heed! 


79 


CHRIST  OR  JUDAS? 


IS  IT  Christ  or  Judas!    Ye  who  hold  the  scales  of 
earthly  power? 

Have  ye  yet  chosen  him  whom  ye  would  serve? 

Choose  3"e  must!  The  time  is  close  at  hand.  The 
breath  of  angels  now  is  held  against  your  choosing. 

The  field  of  battle  stretches  far  away,  but  ye  are 
near  the  ever-living  gage, — the  gage  of  man's  self-con- 
sciousness. 

With  hand  outstretched,  betrayal  graven  on  his 
face,  stands  he  who  ever  at  the  break  of  day  leaps 
forth  to  greet  each  coming  soldier  of  the  Christ,  who 
wearied  from  his  journey  long  and  tedious,  crazed  wath 
longing  for  a  draught  from  I^ethe's  streams,  too  often 
falls  beneath  the  spell,  and  wrapped  in  glamour  of 
Satanic  w^eaving,  looks,  and  listens,  falls — and  dies. 

Art  thou  of  that  vast  number,  son  of  mine?  Or 
canst  thou  see  the  Holy  Grail  I  hold  before  thine  eyes, 
and  seeing,  gird  thyself  and  fall  in  line  behind  the 
King  of  Kings,  to  die  a  mortal's  death,  mayhap — but 
yet  to  live  eternally  with  Christ? 

Will  Christ  or  Judas  hold  thy  mantle  in  the  com- 
ing strife? 

Choose  ve  must — and  NOW! 


THE  GOD  OF  PAIN 

IF  THOU  dost  choose  to  learn  by  pain  alone,  and 
turnest  far  thy  face  from  me  when  with  my  gourd 

in  hand  I  stoop  to  give  thee  drink  from  water  sweet 
which  trickles  from  the  font  where  Knowledge  and 
its  sister  Power  in  friendly  rivalry  do  vie  to  give  thee 
all  thy  soul  demands, — then  must  I  leave  thee  to  the 
woe  which  wilful  disobedience  doth  bring  to  human  kind. 

The  power  of  choice  is  thine,  since  the  dawn  of 
Kalpas  past,  the  Arhats  came  to  earth  to  dwell  with 
man — in  man ;  and  if  thou  heedest  not  the  voice  of  those 
who  speak  thee  fair,  what  is  there  left  for  them  or  me 
to  do  but  wait  until  the  God  of  Pain  liath  chastened 
thee. 


81 


THE  KING  COMETH 


HEAR  ye  the  thunders  of  the  Triple  Six?  Know 
3'e  not  the  hour  of  fulfilment  is  near  at  hand? 
Thrice  hath  INIerodach  slain  the  vultures  that 
tear  at  the  heart  of  the  Sun  God,  and  again  must 
he  hend  bow  and  spear  ere  his  task  be  done,  and  the 
glory  of  the  666  be  revealed  unto  man. 

Swifter  than  Hight  of  arrow  cometh  the  Deliverer 
to  break  asunder  the  chains  that  bind,  and  free  the  cap- 
tive Prince.  Xever  again  shall  the  fire  of  love  be 
quenched  with  the  waters  of  affliction,  the  trust  of  tender 
woman  to  be  betrayed.  Xever  again  shall  the  Father's 
pride  in  his  well-beloved  plunge  him  into  outer  dark- 
ness. 

The  King  cometli,  and  who  shall  prevail  against 
him  i 


THE  HOLY  ANGEL,  LOVE 


TO  DISGUISE  the  miry  sloughs  of  human  pas- 
sion, hatred,  murder,  teachery  and  deceit,  man 
hath  used  the  most  sacred  of  all  sacred  words — 
Love;  knowing  naught  of  the  Holy  Angel  which  it 
designates;  ignorantly  fearing  not  its  misused  power, 
which  yet  is  great  enough  to  hold  the  stars  in  place 
and  guide  the  myriad  lives  of  earth  to  heavenly  hliss 
and  back  again  to  earth. 

The  darksomeness  of  blackest  night  is  no  more 
dense  than  is  the  mind  that  fails  to  see  in  Love,  the 
tirst-born  Son  of  (xod;  clothed  in  the  vesture  of  that 
power  which  manifests  Devotion  ]:>in'e  and  undefiled; 
the  power  which  tears  the  gyves  and  fetters  from  the 
limbs  of  all  the  human  race,  and  sets  it  free  from 
bondage  to  the  Wheel  of  Time. 


83 


MAKE  CLEAN  THINE  HEART 


O  LITTLE  man!  O,  foolish  man!  Webbed  in  the 
illusive  changing  scenes  about  thee,  or  rooted  in 
the  lowest  sphere  of  human  fear  and  passion, 
thou  dost  elect  by  means  of  potent  Will  to  there  remain 
— content  and  useless.  Back  into  the  faces  of  the  Gods, 
thou  throwest  life's  great  opportunities  untried,  and 
draweth  close  the  veil  of  ignorance  around  thee. 

Why  trample  under  foot  the  seven-stringed  Lute 
through  which  compassion's  low  sweet  tone  may  stir 
thy  soul  to  loftier  deeds  and  aims?  Why  breathe  a  film 
of  foul  corruption  o'er  the  Lens  through  which  alone 
the  light  of  Truth  may  fall  on  thee?  Hast  thou  not 
heard  the  lime  grows  not  on  a  thorn  tree,  nor  yet  a  fig 
on  a  thistle?  Make  clean  thine  Heart,  that  so  the  sun- 
kissed  heights  of  Love  may  image  there  the  Soul  that 
long  hath  watched  o'er  thee — that  patiently  awaits  thine 
hour  of  waking. 


84 


THY  HERITAGE 

THINKEST  thou  the  strength  thou  usest  is  thine 
because  of  merit  won,  or  is  the  guerdon  of  thy 
labor?  Then  put  away  the  thought,  it  ringeth 
false;  for  only  is  it  thine  by  reason  of  thy  unity  with 
all  that  lives.  Yet  must  thou  labor  with  all  diligence 
from  early  morn  'till  close  of  day,  that  thou  mayst  add 
to  that  great  sum  of  all  the  labor  done  by  Gods  and 
men,  by  means  of  which  thy  heritage,  thy  greater 
strength,  is  won,  and  will  remain  for  rightful  use, 
'till  life's  long  day  is  ended. 


85 


THE  DRAUGHT  OF  LETHE 


LOW  have  you  fallen,  sons  of  my  Son,  who  in  his 
greatness  cast  away  the  offered  gift  of  endless 
peace,  to  win  the  right  to  say,  "I  A^I."  For  ye 
would  spurn  the  gift  so  hardly  won  by  Him,  ere  ye 
would  suffer  pain  of  body  or  of  soul,  and  often  clutch 
with  greedy  hands  the  cup  which  holds  the  draught 
of  Lethe,  brewed  and  offered  you  by  aliens  to  that 
Sun  of  Light  who  brought  self-consciousness  to  man. 


S6 


THE  PLACE  OF  PEACE 


WHY  trouble  your  hearts  and  waste  your  precious 
time  by  dwelling  on  the  evil  done  by  those  who 
wish  you  harm?    Know  you  not  that  you  lie  in 
hands  which  have  the   power  to  hold   you   safe,   and 
naught  can  compass  you  to  your  eternal  hurt,  save  by 
your  will? 

A  gnat  can  minister  to  your  discomfort  only  as  you 
fix  your  mind  upon  it  or  the  wound  it  leaves. 

Find  the  "Place  of  Peace,"  and  friends  and  enemies 
alike  will  be  but  added  blessings,  for  both  will  speak 
to  you  of  God— the  one  of  Love,  the  other  of  Forgive- 
ness. 


87 


THE  PATH 

GO!  Go  quickly,  to  the  place  prepared  for  thee, 
False  Fiend  of  Selfish  Lust — disguised  in  Plea- 
sure's changeful  robes.  Wouldst  even  thou  drag 
down  the  "little  ones"  of  Christ,  into  the  slimy  ooze 
where  thou  dost  dwell,  abhorred  of  God  and  man,  that 
thou  mayst  rob  them  of  all  power,  all  purpose  and  all 
strength,  and  render  them  fit  devotees  and  ministers 
to  thee? 

Strike!  strike  hard  and  fast — Renunciation,  Pain, 
Ye  Angels  of  the  Arch  of  Heaven!  Let  loose  the 
Keys  fast  clasj^ed  by  hand  to  breast — Compassion's 
Keys — to  all  the  heights,  to  all  the  starry  corridors 
where  dwells  our  Lord,  and  where  awaiteth  He  the 
advent  of  His  chosen.  There  the  work  for  which  past 
anguish  hath  prepared  them,  is  pointed  out  by  Him. 
None  other  hath  the  power  to  mark  the  way.  for  none 
but  Christ  hath  climbed  Transfiguration's  heights  and 
bridged  the  gulf  of  Hades'  hate,  to  open  wide  "The 
Path." 


88 


TO  THE  DEAD  IN  LIFE 


AGAIN  and  again  falls  the  hammer  of  tlie  Gods, 
and  the  throbbing  tones  of  the  Anvil  ring  true  on 
liearts  that  hear.  Blow  follows  blow  on  "The 
Iron  Wheel"  hot  with  the  blast  of  the  outraged  Law. 
Higher  and  yet  higher  rise  the  flying  sparks,  tilling  the 
heavens  with  fiery  streams  which  descend  as  scourges 
of  pestilence,  famine  and  flame. 

Pile  up  your  dead,  ye  dead  in  life.  Hide  them  from 
view,  lest  their  mangled  forms  cry  vengeance  upon  you ; 
then  stand  on  their  shallow  graves,  if  ye  can,  and 
crj!^:  "Great  are  we  earthborn  sons  of  Desire;  Giants 
of  Power,  of  Finance  and  Fame.  Hasten!  ye  slaves 
of  our  dominant  wills,  cover  the  archives,  the  records, 
which  prove  we  be  passion-bred  bastards  of  lustful  de- 
sire for  lands  and  silver  and  gold!" 

The  stench  of  your  evil  poisons  the  air,  and  only  blue 
flames  from  the  hidden  fires  can  render  it  fit  for  the 
breathing  of  those  who  come  on  the  wings  of  the  morn- 
ing light  to  offer  to  fallen  man  the  grip  of  the  Lion's  Paw. 

Go  on !  Go  on  to  the  end,  for  ye  will  not  hear.  In 
thirst  for  Power,  ye  have  blinded  your  eyes  and  ye  can- 
not perceive  ye  are  objects  of  scorn — butts  for  the  play 
and  the  laughter  of  fiendish  Jinns,  who  blind  and  de- 
ceive, who  set  wary  traps  into  which  ye  trip,  who  glee- 
fully laugh  at  the  steel-ribbed  vaults  ye  have  crossed 
and  recrossed  with  the  currents  of  doom. 

Again  and  again  has  the  message  gone  forth:  again 
and  again  doth  the  ^Master  cry:  "As  a  hen  doth  gather 
her  chickens,  and  foldeth  them  under  her  wings,  so 
would  I  gather  ye,  but  ye  will  not  heed." 

89 


COMPASSION 

IF    HUMAN   life   with   all   its   bitter   experiences 
hath  not  yet  taught  you  Compassion's  first  sweet 
law,   hath   not    yet    awakened   true   discrimination 
from  its  long  sleep,  attaining  to  knowledge  of  hidden 
things  will  be  a  curse  past  telling. 


90 


THE  CROSS  OF  FIRE 

WOULD  you  shut  your  hearts  against  me  that 
I  may  not  enter  in  and  bless  you? — then  turn 
away  from   him  who  seeketh  you  in  time  of 
need. 

Since  Fohat  crossed  the  Circle  with  his  flaming 
torch  hath  Life  called  unto  Life  for  sustenance — sup- 
port in  time  of  stress.  The  law  which  drove  that 
mighty  Angel  forth  to  cross  one  line  of  life  upon 
another,  will  drive  you  back  to  nothingness,  if  you 
persist  in  flouting  it. 


91 


THINE  OWN 


SEE  ST  thou  not,  O  son  of  man,  thou  dost  create 
the  good  thou  behevest  in  with  thine  whole  heart, 
even  as  thou  dost  crush  the  good  thou  doubtest? 
How  then  canst  thou  cry  "unjust"  when  evil  obstructs 
thine  own  path  to  the  footstool  of  the  Gods,  and  good 
removes  all  obstructions  from  thy  brother's  path? 
Thine  own  will  some  day  meet  thine  eyes  as  truly  as 
the  morrow's  sun  will  grace  the  heavenly  vault. 


92 


ILLUSION'S  FLAMES 


A  CHILD  may  not  play  with  Rackshasa's  flames 
and   go  unscathed;   the  false   light  of  the  fires 
which  that  Dttmon  doth  kindle  and   flash  into 
human  eyes,  doth  hut  serve  to  hide  the  mouth  of  a  yawn- 
ing pit. 

Better  far  the  steady  hght  of  the  Sun,  though  its 
heams  pierce  the  heart  of  thine  eye,  and  cause  anguish 
unspeakable.  In  the  one  instance,  there  followeth 
growth;  in  the  other,  destruction. 

Many  bodies,  heads,  hands  and  feet,  hath  the  great 
Temple  of  Man,  but  only  one  heart.  Woe  to  the  hand 
that  strikes  at  that  heart ;  woe  to  the  foot  that  tripping, 
overturns  the  body. 


93 


THE  SOUL'S  OPPORTUNITY 


MY  CHILD,  what  cause  hast  thou  for  wreaking 
vengeance  upon  that  soul  which  refuses  to  gain 
its  experience  by  means  of  thy  travail?  Know- 
est  thou  not  if  thou  dost  rob  that  soul  of  its  opportunity 
to  suffer  and  thereby  gain  the  strength  to  conquer  its 
enemies,  thou  dost  place  thyself  irrevocably  in  its 
power  ? 

The  man  thou  hast  sinned  against  becomes  thy 
Master,  and  thou  must  serve  him  till  the  debt  is  paid  in 
full. 

The  man  thou  constrainest  to  travel  the  ])ath  marked 
out  for  thee  alone,  must  needs  obstruct  that  path  to 
thine  undoing. 


94 


THE  VOICE  OF  GOD 


THOU  sayest,  "God  spake  to  Man  in  the  olden 
days,  man  listened  and  was  blessed,  but  now  in 
the  night  of  Time,  God  no  longer  speaks  and  man 
is  accursed." 

Foolish  man!  God  never  ceases  to  speak,  but  man 
has  destroyed  his  true  sense  of  hearing  by  listening  too 
intently  to  the  muffled  thunders  of  the  sound  waves  of 
human  passion  pounding  against  his  inner  ear. 

Seek  the  Silence,  Beloved,  and  when  thou  hast 
found  it  thou  shalt  hear  again  the  tender  cadences,  the 
word  of  command,  the  Song  of  Life,  for  God  is  the  same 
today  as  yesterday,  and  His  voice  doth  reach  to  the 
outermost  bounds  of  Time  and  Space,  and  sings  in  the 
heart  of  man. 


95 


JEWELS  OF  LIGHT 


UNCUT,  unpolished,  are  the  Jewels  hid  within 
this  casket,  which  the  Lord  of  Life  hath  formed 
from  His  own  heart,  and  given  unto  me. 
I  pray  for  power  to  hold  me  still  while  He  doth 
cut  and  polish  all  these  gems,  that  so,  one  day  I  may 
behold  His  face  reflected  in  their  depths,  while  He  is 
setting  them  within  a  crown,  to  place  on  mine  own  head. 


96 


LOVE  AND  HATRED 


ALAS  that  each  human  Soul  must  learn  for  itself 
that  in  trifling  with  the  Emotion  of  love,  its 
energy  is  wasted  and  lost  irrevocably;  that  by 
bartering  that  holy  birthright  for  transient  pleasure, 
the  most  direct  path  to  divine  Love  and  AVisdom  is 
choked  by  poisonous  weeds  and  thorny  brambles,  or 
still  worse,  is  left  so  empty  and  desolate  that  the  Snake 
of  Hate  alone  dares  venture  there  to  find  a  dwelling 
place. 

When  the  fires  of  Hate  awaken  and  burn  in  a 
human  heart,  all  that  makes  for  life  and  happiness  is 
consumed,  and  the  unhappy  Soul,  naked  and  alone,  is 
left  gazing  at  the  ashes  of  a  misspent  past. 

Neither  can  you  drive  that  human  love  back  into 
the  heart,  any  more  than  you  can  drive  the  sap  back 
into  a  tree,  the  blood  back  into  the  veins;  the  heart 
would  break,  the  tree  and  veins  would  burst  from  pres- 
sure put  upon  each  molecule.  In  the  wider  love,  the 
sap  is  expelled,  the  blood  distributd.  Law  is  fulfilled. 
Life  is  more  fully  manifested,  and  The  Will  of  God 
completed. 


97 


WHERE  IS  GOD? 


WHERE  shall  I  find  God?  If  I  search  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  and  the  waters  under  the 
earth,  shall  I  find  him? 
No!  But  if  thou  wilt  search  the  depths  of  thine 
own  heart,  all  that  thou  findest  of  Love,  of  Beauty,  of 
Unselfishness — all  that  thou  knowest  of  Peace  and  Joy 
will  open  the  path  to  God,  and  show  thee  the  hidden 
places  wherein  thou  wilt  find  all  thou  canst  know  and 
understand. 


98 


THE  PATH  IS  HARD 


IN  A  sense  we  may  say  it  is  the  same  path  that  the 
jNIaster  Jesus  followed.     There  is   no  other   Path, 

no  other  way  to  find  the  true  self,  save  through 
effort  and  suffering.  When  we  think  of  it  from  an 
earthly  standpoint,  it  seems  pitiful,  that  poor,  weak, 
human  beings  should  have  apparently  so  little  light  to 
guide  them  on  the  way,  so  little  of  the  comfort  that 
it  would  seem  might  be  theirs;  but  those  of  you  who 
have  had  an  opportunity  of  watching  the  wealthy  or  the 
so-called  "well-to-do,"  those  who  seem  to  enjoy  all  the 
good  things  of  this  life,  know^  that  they  are  often  "of 
all  men  most  miserable."  They  are  using  the  gaudes 
of  earth  to  dress  up  their  scarred  and  tainted  carcasses, 
while  their  souls  are  often  naked  and  hungry;  and  that 
would  show  you  how  little  the  soul  can  gain  from 
wordly  wealth.  It  is  the  strain,  the  stress,  the  exercise 
of  power,  that  gives  the  final  victory. 

"A  chain  is  only  as  strong  as  its  weakest  link."  A 
human  being,  an  angel,  a  god,  is  only  as  strong  as  he 
has  gained  power  to  endure  the  stress;  and  that  power 
can  only  be  gained  through  suffering.  If  there  were 
any  other  way,  I  would  have  told  you, — for  I  sorrow 
in  your  sorrow,  suffer  in  your  suffering;  yet  I  must 
stand  by.  even  if  it  be  to  see  you  go  down  into  the 
midst  of  the  flames,  and  come  up  again,  if  it  be  neces- 
sary to  your  growth.  You  sometimes  blame  me  for 
not  saving  you  from  sorrow,  for  not  keeping  suffering 

99 


THE  PATH  IS  HARD 

CONTINUED 

away  from  you;  but  my  children,  I  would  gladly  give 
you  myself,  and  all  that  I  am,  if  it  would  aid  you  in 
your  development.  But  you  are  as  I  am,  of  God, — 
and  only  tiirough  the  strength  of  the  God  within  your- 
selves and  the  power  that  you  can  gain  over  these  ad- 
verse conditions  will  you  be  enabled  to  meet  and 
overcome  what  will  be  before  you  in  this  and  in  many 
lives.  The  effects  of  suffering  are  never  lost,  any  more 
than  effort  in  any  direction  can  be  lost.  From  my  soul, 
1  wish  I  could  convey  to  you  the  love  I  feel  for  you, 
the  desire  1  have  for  your  advancement;  but  every 
^lother  knows  that  if  her  child  is  to  grow  strong,  it 
must  walk  by  itself,  it  must  learn  all  it  knows  of  physi- 
cal conditions  by  pain;  and  this  process  continues  to 
the  end.  Any  human  being  who  tries  to  make  you 
believe  that  you  can  gain  spiritual  growth  without  pass- 
ing through  "Golgotha"  is  telling  you  an  absolute  false- 
hood. But  there  is  no  reason  why  you  should  not  see 
tile  beauty,  the  good,  the  glory  there  is  in  life.  It  is 
around  you  on  every  side,  it  is  yours  to  take  and  use 
as  it  seems  best  to  you — always  in  the  right  spirit.  I 
would  not  have  you  look  at  the  liells  of  life,  but  at 
tlie  heavens  which  also  lie  a])out  vou." 


100 


STAND  UP 

HAVE  the  ruling  powers  of  the  Cosmos  forced 
thee  into  the  path  of  the  storm,  stripped  thee 
of  courage  and  streng-th  and  left  thee  whirling 
like  a  top  in  the  midst  of  the  wreckage  of  life?  With 
the  passing  of  the  storm  gather  up  the  fragments  of 
strength  and  courage,  and  stand  up;  keej)  thy  feet  on 
the  ground. 

If  thou  hast  stumhled  into  the  quagmire  ruled  by 
the  three  demons.  Doubt,  Despair,  Distrust — that 
miry  waste  dividing  Bondage  from  Liberty — that 
fathomless  gulf  into  whicli  each  soul  stumbles  when  it 
lets  go  of  the  false  and  reaches  out  toward  the  Real; 
again  I  say.  Stand  up.  Trouble  not  thyself  about  thy 
rent  and  miry  garments,  or  that  thou  seest  no  hand 
in  sight  to  drag  thee  from  the  mire.  Get  upon  thy  feet 
and  stand!  then  thou  shalt  see  the  hand. 

Have  mutual,  fair-weather  friends  nosed  a  'trail 
and  set  out  to  chase  thy  beloved  one  to  cover?  Wilt 
thou  join  their  pack  of  yelping  curs  and  help  to  hound 
him  to  his  death?  At  the  least,  thou  mayst  deaden 
the  trail,  if  thou  canst  not  stand  by  his  side  and  thus 
prove  thine  own  self. 

If  so  be  thou  hast  power  to  separate  the  evil  from 
the  evil  doer,  and  help  to  bear  the  burden  of  the  Christ 
who  lives  and  suffers  in  a  stricken  soul,  then  thou  mayst 
hold  at  bay  the  enemy  of  man  until  its  strength  is 
broken,  the  striken  soul  is  freed,  and   find  that  thou 

101 


STAND  UP 

CONTINUED 

art  thrice  a  conqueror.  Meet  then  to  take  and  wear  the 
golden  key  art  thou,  for  thou  hast  learned  the  way 
to  stand  upright  and  open  wide  the  door  to  greater 
deeds. 

Thinkest  thou  thy  JNIaster  will  by  his  diviner  power, 
reach  forth  to  pull  thee  from  the  mire  or  from  the 
power  of  all  the  hungry  pack  and  set  thee  down  at 
His  right  hand  by  force  of  arms,  to  rule  o'er  those 
who  have  come  up  through  all  the  hells  unscathed  by 
fire  of  Sin?  Art  thou  then  such  an  imbecile  as  to 
believe  that  thine  own  unbelief,  thy  fierce  repudiation 
of  former  faith  in  Him  thou  once  didst  own  as  ^Master, 
will  obliterate  that  ^Master  from  the  screen  of  all  thy 
lives?  If  so  it  be,  then  thou  art  blind  indeed:  lost,  and 
helpless,  or  thou  hast  bound  thine  eyes  and  thrown 
away  the  crutch;  lame  and  halt,  thou  now  art  caught 
in  the  morass  with  only  a  poor  sodden  stick  of  egotistic 
])ride  to  lean  upon;  a  stick  that  will  surely  snap  in 
twain  at  the  first  effort  to  bear  thy  weight  thereon. 

Stand  up,  stretch  out  thine  hand  toward  the  fur- 
ther side  of  the  gulf  of  thy  present  delusion,  child  of 
the  Sun;  even  if  thou  canst  not  yet  see  that  other  hand 
awaiting  thine.  Bear  down  on  the  earth  with  thine 
own  feet;  raise  thy  head  and  stand  upright. 


102 


THE  GIFT  OF  GOD 

HE  WHO  accepeth  Me  shall  live  by  Me;  he  who 
lives  by  Me  shall  dwell  with  Mine;  and  in  the 
Light  w^here  dwelleth  Mine  the  heart  of  God 
doth  pulse  unceasingly. 

The  shade  that  falls  where  God  doth  walk  but  fills 
a  background  drear  against  which  all  the  light  and 
glory  of  the  Coming  Age  doth  beat  in  never  ceasing 
rythm. 

Enter  thou  that  light  and  fold  thy  wings  and  rest, 
thou  Bird  of  Life;  thy  pinions  are  Mine  own,  My  Little 
Ones,  to  whom  I  gave  Myself,  and  giving  found  My- 
self. 


103 


THE  BOOK 


THOU  callest  it  a  brain.  I  call  it  a  })ook,  into 
which  thou  hast  writ  at  command,  the  records 
of  many  lives.  As  leaf  after  leaf  of  that  book 
is  turned,  as  the  cycles  come  and  go,  I  see  exposed 
the  tales  inscribed  in  blood  wrung  from  thine  own  and 
other  hearts.  Short  sentences  illumined  with  the  transi- 
tory colors  that  transient  joy  hath  mixed  and  given 
unto  thee;  whole  pages  bordered  deep  with  black,  o'er 
w^hich  dark  shadows  seem  to  flit  at  will  so  fast  and 
thick  there  is  no  space  or  chance  for  written  words. 
Here  and  there  I  see  a  paragraph  of  careless  jest, 
or  record  of  some  kindly  deed ;  and  close  upon  the  page 
where  one  day  Finis  is  to  be  inscribed  by  other  hands 
than  thine,  are  other  pages  where  the  lines  no  longer 
traverse  straight  across  the  page  from  side  to  side.  Un- 
even are  they,  and  the  words  run  one  into  the  other, 
and  every  letter  shows  the  work  of  aged,  trembling 
hands. 

Xo  beauty  have  those  pages  to  the  critic's  eye;  yet, 
to  the  eye  of  God  they  are  of  all  most  beautiful;  for 
in  betw^een  those  crooked  lines  and  wavering  letter 
strokes,  invisible  to  all  but  Him,  are  writ  the  sum  of 
all  the  past  experience,  the  mathematics  of  the  soul, 
that  He  alone  can  read  and  understand. 


104 


THE  HEIGHTS  OF  LIFE 


WIIEX  thou  hast  reached  the  utmost  height  of 
louehness — that  height  so  far  above  the  Sun- 
kissed  hills,  the  softly  shaded  valleys  where 
once  you  dreamed  away  the  time  in  blissful  introspec- 
tion and  have  left  behind  you  all  that  sensuous  life  had 
folded  close,  the  human  love,  delights  of  eye  and  ear, 
and  tender  touch  of  helpful  hand — 'twill  seem  the  very 
heavens  have  fallen,  the  earth  rejected  and  thee  cast 
forth  condemned.  Thy  soul  will  seem  suspended  in 
the  depths  apart  from  all  created  things,  dead,  as 
though  the  icy  blast  of  winter's  storm  had  wrapped  it 
all  about;  alive,  as  though  volcanic  fires  were  eating 
into  every  quickening  cell.  The  formless,  soundless 
pressure  of  illimitable  Space  will  beat  upon  your  ears, 
and  all  the  light  of  all  the  Suns  in  Space  will  sear  your 
eyes;  until  at  last,  the  debt  of  sentient  life  repaid,  you 
yield  submissively  and  cry,  "God  save  me  from  the 
desolation,  the  utter  loneliness  of  all  created  things, 
and  let  me  lose  myself  in  Thee  alone." 

No  tongue  or  pen  can  tell  what  then  befalls  that 
naked  Soul,  stripped  of  its  gauds — the  things  which 
weighed  it  down,  and  chained  it  to  a  rocky  waste;  for, 
losing  all  it  held  in  memory  fond,  it  finds  itself  at  last, 
alive  with  God's  own  life;  a  part  of  every  tree  and 
flower,  at  one  with  every  living  thing;  a  tone  of  all  the 
melodies  the  swinging  stars  give  forth — a  light  which 
lightens  Earth  and  Sea  and  Sky,  the  hosts  of  Angels 
and  the  Cherubim.     All,  all  in  thee,  and  thou  in  God. 

105 


FIND  THE  GOOD 

DEEP  indeed  thy  poverty,  thou  son  or  daughter 
of  the  Shadow,  when  for  thine  own  sustenance 
thou  tilchest  from  thy  })rethren  that  which  they 
would  gladly  part  with  for  the  asking, — the  evil  things 
of  long  ago  that  they  would  kill  and  hury. 

Long  and  hard  will  he  the  lesson  thou  must  learn 
ere  Wisdom  can  enfold  thee  with  her  mantle  and  show 
thee  how  much  wiser  it  had  been  for  thee  to  search 
for  all  the  Godlike  qualities  concealed  within  thy  broth- 
er's heart,  that  thou  might  be  partaker  with  him  in  the 
])lessings  so  revealed,  instead  of  drawing  to  thyself  and 
giving  power  to  all  the  demons  he  hath  killed,  to  fasten 
their  vile  fangs  within  thy  quivering  flesh,  with  all  the 
strength  that  Tanha  gives  to  evil  things.  If  thou 
wouldst  look  with  half  the  will  thou  givest  to  the  search 
for  evil  things,  to  find  the  good  within  the  heart  of 
every  living  thing,  how  great  would  be  thy  recompense, 
thou  starved  and  weary  pilgrim  of  the  nether  path. 

Things  of  darkness  seek  the  darkness,  and  if  by 
dwelling  on  the  evil  thou  imputest  to  thy  brother,  thou 
dost  darken  all  thy  sphere  of  being,  straight  as  flies 
the  needle  to  the  magnet  will  fly  the  demons  of  the  night 
to  tliee;  and  most  of  all  to  fear  will  be  this  trutli  that 
tliou  wilt  see  those  demons  as  the  angels  of  the  light, 
so  great  will  be  tlie  darkness  tliou  liast  made. 

106 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  FLESH 


AH,  CHILDREN,  children  that  ye  are,  in  your 
hunoer  for  tlie  old  joys,  or  the  unexplored  field 
of  some  new  experience,  ye  forget  that  the  old 
joys  were  the  seed  of  your  present  woes,  that  the  new 
field  must  inevitahly  lead  you  into  a  morass  of  similar 
suffering. 

The  call  of  the  flesh,  the  intoxication  of  the  new 
field,  cause  you  to  forget  the  consequences  which  in 
your  more  enlightened  hours  you  know  must  follow, 
though  do  not  always  admit  it  to  yourselves.  So,  in- 
advertently, or  through  your  craving  for  something, — 
anything,  that  will  fill  the  void  in  your  starving  hearts, 
ye  reach  out  for  the  frothy  sweetmeats,  the  sugared 
aloes,  which  bear  the  semblance  of  food.  If  the  pain 
which  follows  were  all,  it  might  be  well  for  you;  but 
alas,  it  is  not  all;  in  tampering  with  the  higher  centres 
of  your  life  you  lose  your  power  of  spiritual  diges- 
tion, and  in  losing  that,  you  have  also  lost  your  hunger 
— the  call  of  your  Divinity — and  your  ability  to  assimi- 
late the  stronger  food,  which  alone  could  satisfy. 


107 


GIVE  WAY 

GIVE  way,  thou  stolid,  selfish  miniature  of  ease, 
and  let  the  King  pass  by,  or  prone  upon  the 
earth  his  knights  will  strike  thee  down! 
There  is  no  room  for  thee,  no  place  in  all  of  I^abor's 
fair  domains  for  such  as  thou. 

The  King,  God's  workman,  hath  no  time  or  will  to 
set  thee  gently  by  when  on  his  way  to  fight  the  hist 
long  battle  for  the  rights  of  man,  which  thou  and  all 
thy  kind,  in  sloth,  in  revelry  and  lust  have  forced  upon 
Him  and  the  land  which  gave  thee  birth.  Give  way 
or  die. 


108 


THE  GIFT  OF  LIFE 


HOW  hard  it  seemeth,  ye  who  take  no  note  of 
Nature's  lovehest  moods — to  learn  the  lesson 
taught  by  every  curving  stem  of  flower  and 
leaf — to  bend,  when  thou  must  face  the  tempest  and 
the  storms  of  life;  and  so  protect  that  part  of  thee,  thy 
face,  thy  features,  that  which  marks  thy  character,  and 
proves  to  every  seeing  eye  thy  fitness  for  the  gift  of 
Life. 

The  tree  which  reacheth  toward  the  heavens  in 
straight  unbending  line  is  but  support  for  all  the  foli- 
age and  the  seed;  while  curved  and  straight  lines,  stem 
and  tree  are  needful,  the  curve  which  touches  close  the 
flower  and  seed — the  finer  forms  of  life — doth  give  pro- 
tection and  make  possible  the  lives  of  many,  while  the 
straight,  unbending  line  is  One,  alone. 


109 


THY  CROWN 


THE  Prince  is  not  the  King;  then  how  can  ye  in 
justice  crown  the  Prince  and  leave  the  King 
uncrowned  ? 

Know  ye  not  the  crown  doth  symboHze  all  power, 
and  when  ye  build  an  image  of  that  power  and  place 
it  on  the  brow  of  Him  ye  call  your  Lord,  ye  rob  the 
King  of  that  which  is  His  due,  ye  close  the  path  through 
which  all  power  descends,  and  make  the  crown  a  thing 
of  naught? 

Give  unto  God  thyself  and  all  thou  hast,  and  He 
Himself  will  set  His  seal  within  the  crown  which  He 
will  set  upon  His  firstborn's  brow,  that  so  in  turn  it 
may  descend  to  thee. 

But  think  ye  well  before  ye  ask  for  that  same 
crown  the  Prince  doth  wear.  Its  jeweled  front  doth 
flash  its  brilliant  beauty  forth  on  all  who  look  thereon, 
but  he  who  wears  it  doth  not  see  that  beauty  rare:  the 
sharp  and  jagged  edges  of  the  underside,  the  weight 
of  heavy  metal,  piercing  deep  into  the  flesh  and  press- 
ing sore  the  brow;  these  are  His  alone, — His  part  of 
the  inheritance  within  that  crown. 


110 


THE  POWER  TO  BUILD 


^^  \  LL,  all  I  am,  my  child,"  the  Father  saith,  "I 
J^\^  fain  would  shower  on  thee.  The  fulness,  maj- 
esty and  power  of  life,  in  vast  immeasurable 
streams;  the  wealth  and  glory  of  all  suns  in  space, — the 
wisdom  garnered  by  the  use  of  all  the  higher  attributes 
of  gods  and  men;  all,  all  1  hold  in  trust,  I  fain  would 
give  to  thee;  and  that  which  I  now  ask  of  thee  is  that 
with  w^illing  heart  and  in  the  love  which  crowiis  all 
service  pure,  thou  wilt  take  up  the  little  things  of  life 
and  do  them  wisely,  gladly, — knowing  that  in  giving 
them  to  thee  to  do  I  give  thee  power  to  build  and  cross 
the  Bridge  which  must  ])e  built  by  effort  of  thine  own 
to  span  the  stream  "twixt  me  and  thee." 


HI 


NO  RECALL 

THIXKEST  thou  that  aught  the  world  can  offer 
could  buy  back  the  life  that  thou  of  thine  own 
will  hast  given  unto  God  .<'  Having  given  that  price- 
less gift — a  life — to  the  service  of  thy  God, — the  serv- 
ice of  thy  brethren, — thou  canst  not  take  it  back.  That 
life  has  entered  into  the  Soul  of  all  and  has  become  a 
part  of  every  thing  and  creature — a  part  of  everything 
that  breathes  the  breath  of  life.  It  is  no  longer  thine 
to  give  or  take  away. 

It  smiles  on  thee  in  every  rippling  brook,  in  every 
tender  face  that  lifts  itself  to  thine.  It  flows  from 
every  tear  that  falls  from  others'  eyes.  It  throbs  in 
every  heart,  in  every  pain  of  body  or  of  mind.  It  forms 
a  part  of  every  offered  sacrifice.  It  beats  in  every 
measure,  every  tone,  and  glows  in  every  sun.  Thou 
mayst  befoul  the  form  which  holds  it,  but  thou  canst 
not  soil  the  life  that  is  no  longer  thine,  nor  rob  thy 
brethren  of  the  gift,  for  it  is  theirs,  not  thine  alone, 
when  once  accepted  by  thy  God. 


112 


THE  TRIMURTI 


THOU,  the  Wonderful,  the  Trimurti,  Brahma, 
Vishnu,  and  Shiva,  hast  now  revealed  to  thy  serv- 
ant a  mystery: — 

The  First-born  son  of  the  God  of  War  hath  passed 
from  his  Father's  side  between  the  wings  of  the  Great 
Bird  Garuda — the  Bird  whose  talons  wield  the  thunder- 
bolts of  Heaven — to  the  back  of  the  Eagle  of  the  West- 
ern mountains.  In  swift  flight  shall  the  Eagle  bear 
the  Great  Deliverer,  for  whom  our  eyes  have  long 
waited,  to  Aryan  skies  where,  standing  upright  on  the 
Bird's  left  wing,  he  shall  re-establish  the  Lunar  Dy- 
nasty and  bring  peace  and  plenty  to  a  people  oppressed. 

When  the  Rivers  of  the  far  East  and  the  West 
meet  and  commingle,  then  shall  the  God  of  War  bury 
the  seven-tipped  arrows  he  now  holdeth  in  hand,  be- 
neath the  Ocean  so  formed,  and  a  mighty  Race  again 
rule  the  Earth. 


113 


THE  DEAD  IN  LIFE 


FIT  food  are  ye  for  the  Astral  vultures  that  feed 
upon  you,  for  dead  ye  are,  while  yet  ye  live. 
Swollen,  besotted  with  pride,  accursed  of  God, 
the  fiends  ye  have  called  from  the  depths  look  on  you 
with  horror.  Fattened  by  the  blood  of  the  human 
hearts  ye  break,  ye  loll  at  ease,  and  not  only  refuse  to 
enter  the  light  of  life  yourselves,  but  bar  the  way  to 
that  light,  that  others  may  fall  in  the  darkness  ye  cre- 
ate. Your  lying  tongues  and  deceitful  ways  cause  the 
weak  to  stumble  and  go  down  to  death.  Fools  that  ye 
are,  do  vou  think  in  vour  blindness  the  law  is  dead? 


114 


THE  PRICE  OF  LOVE 


TO  THE  soul  with  the  capacity  for  a  great  love 
there  will  some  time  come  a  moment  of  illumina- 
tion, a  moment  of  divine  intuition  when  the  veil 
between  spirit  and  matter  is  temporarily  lifted  and 
that  soul  catches  a  glimpse  of  the  tragedy  which  lies 
concealed  behind  the  present  rapture  and  dimly  senses 
the  icy  chill  of  its  approach. 

So  it  must  ever  he,  for  exevy  great  love  bears  the 
seed  of  a  deep  ti'agedy.  Such  love  is  seldom  under- 
stood or  appreciated  at  its  full  value,  and  still  more 
seldom  is  it  returned  in  kind. 

In  the  moment  of  illumination  the  soul  realizes  be- 
yond all  doubt  that  the  shadow  of  vicarious  atonement, 
of  sacrifice  past  telling,  awaits  it  also  as  it  has  awaited 
every  divinely  inspired  soul  since  time  for  man  began. 
But  the  veil  drops  quickly,  the  momentary  revolt 
against  undeserved  suffering  is  stilled.  Love  sheds  its 
radiant  beams  over  all  common  things,  dazzling  the  in- 
tellect, and  magically  endowing  the  heloved  one  with 
all  the  attrihutes  of  a  God.  And  so  self-crowned  with 
the  diadem  of  sacrifice,  the  soul  passes  on  to  its  Geth- 
semane  and  Golgotha  to  pay  the  price  demanded  by 
divine  law  for  hestowing  upon  a  mortal  that  which  he- 
longs  alone  to  God. 


115 


JUSTICE  REIGNS 

"    A    LL'Swell!   All's  well!"  loudly  calls  the  watch- 

J^\_    man  at  the  gate.   "Sleep  on,  sleep  on!  ye  kmgs, 

and  lords,  and  princes  all,  and  take  your  rest. 

"Huzza!  Huzza!  Fill  up  your  glasses  to  the  brim. 
Drink  deep  of  pleasure's  draught,  ye  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  my  lords,  nor  fail  to  satisfy  each  lust  of  eye 
and  mind. 

"No  need  of  care  have  ye,  for  am  not  I,  your  slave, 
erstwhile  in  bond  to  want,  now  watchman  at  the  gate, 
and  watcher  over  you? 

"Ye  fools,  and  blind  of  soul,  ye  saw  no  thirst  for 
vengeance  in  mine  eye.  Ye  heard  no  cry  for  justice 
from  my  lips  so  stiff  with  pain,  on  that  foul  day  when 
first  ye  brought  me  under  thrall  to  you. 

"Nov/,  even  while  ye  sleej^  or  revel,  I  j'our  watch- 
man and  your  slave,  will  lay  the  train  and  light  the 
fuse  of  righteousness  for  man. 

"I,  even  I,  will  open  wide  the  gate  and  let  the 
people  in — the  broken,  spoiled,  enslaved  and  sore  tried 
common  people  of  the  slums  whom  ye  have  kept  with- 
out the  gate.  Ye  could  not  spoil  them  of  their  love 
of  life,  though  all  tilings  else  worth  while  lay  in  your 
grasp;  and  love  of  life  hath  opened  wide  the  eyes  once 
sealed  by  want,  to  see  the  writing  on  the  wall.  The 
day  of  weigliing  cometh  nigh,  and  ye  must  stand  upon 
the  scales. 


116 


JUSTICE  REIGNS 


"All's  well!  All's  well!  Sleep  on,  my  lords  and 
princes,  or  revel  as  ye  will.  I,  the  slave  whom  ye  by 
indolence  or  wrong  have  robbed  of  virtue,  manhood, 
innocence,  am  given  ward  o'er  you. 

"Sleep  on  and  revel,  fathers,  sons  and  daughters 
now  within  the  gates,  till  strikes  the  hour  before  the 
dawn.  Then  shall  ye  wake,  in  deed  and  in  truth,  to 
learn  that  justice  reigns." 


117 


LISTEN 


SOUL  of  iSIy  Soul,  Heart  of  My  Heart,  bend  down 
thine  ear,  and  listen  thou  well.     Listen,  as  listens 

a  mother,  who,  with  smile  on  her  lips  and  light  in 
her  eyes,  lists  to  the  beat  of  the  fast  coming  feet  that 
are  bringing  her  loved  ones,  her  husband  or  children, 
back  to  their  hearthstone — back  to  her  arms. 

Listen!  and  know  that  the  heart-throb  thou  feelest, 
the  life-pulse  thou  hearest,  is  but  the  extension,  the 
rytlimic  revealing  of  heart-throb  and  life-pulse  ai-is- 
ing  in  me,  escaping  fast  from  me,  and  finding  a  shelter 
in  thy  willing  heart,  till  thou  sendest  them  forth  on 
their  mission  of  service,  it  may  be  to  people  a  woi-ld 
through  the  love  they  invoke,  or  empty  a  world  through 
the  hatred  they  bear. 

I  am  the  Ultimo,  thou  the  revealer,  and  also  dis- 
penser. In  thee  lies  the  power  to  turn  into  channels 
of  Good,  or  to  poison  with  Kvil  the  love-stream  that 
flows  from  my  soul  to  thine  own. 

Child  of  Eternity!  Seek  well  and  listen!  List  till 
the  rhythmic  vibration,  tlie  life-beat  of  God,  strikes 
thine  ear. 


118 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LORD 

THUS  saith  the  Lord — my  Lord  to  me:  Open 
thine  eyes  and  hehold  my  face.  Thou  hast  looked 
too  long  at  my  bleeding  feet  and  rememberest 
not  the  smile  on  my  face.  Thou  hast  looked  too  long 
at  the  dire  effects,  and  not  enough  at  the  causes  of  sin. 
Thou  hast  wept  and  jDrayed  o'er  and  fondled  and  cher- 
ished the  long  secret  sins  thou  wilt  not  let  go. 

Thou  fearest  the  Law,  that  Law  which  is  mine, 
which  is  me  and  is  thee,  and  in  fearing,  thou  losest  the 
light  of  my  love,  that  love  which  o'ertops  and  enhances 
the  Law,  as  this  one  little  sphere  is  o'ertopped  and  en- 
hanced by  the  heavens  which  surround  it — ^by  limitless 
space. 

Look  up,  my  child,  from  my  feet  to  my  face. 


119 


THE  CHRIST-BORN 

SCARRED  and  broken  on  the  wheel  of  the  Dark 
Star,  beset  by  all  the  wiles  of  man,  and  tried  by- 
demons  fierce, — the  Dragon's  blood  ye  drank  to 
quench  the  Tanha  thirst  hath  now  been  turned  to  living 
water  in  your  breast,  and  all  who  come  to  you  in  faith 
shall  drink  and  live. 

Rejoice  that  ye  have  kept  your  troth  with  Christ 
— for  He  will  turn  that  water  into  precious  wine  when 
comes  the  last  great  change,  and  clothe  you  with  a  gar- 
ment white  as  wool,  that  ne'er  hath  borne  a  stain. 


120 


THY  TRUST 


ROYxVL  prince  of  the  Iviiigdom  of  Cxod,  Sou  of 
tliy  Father,  the  Thrice  Eorii!  (xreat  indeed  is 
thy  station,  ininieasureahle  the  power  that  waits 
upon  thy  crowning — thy  foot  upon  the  dais  of  thy 
Father's  Throne. 

In  the  shadow  of  Infinity  thou  standest,  Son  of 
Suns,  unknowing  of  thy  future,  all  thy  past  unknown 
to  thee. 

Thy  serfs  and  vassals — thy  passions  and  desires — 
now  press  thee  close  and  plead  for  grace  that  thou  hast 
power  to  grant  or  hinder. 

Yet,  notw^ithstanding  rank  and  station,  there  is  not 
a  slave  or  minion  in  thy  Father's  Kingdom  so  poor  as 
now  thou  art,  if  thou  art  recreant  to  thy  trust.  Xo 
thief  locked  in  thy  castle  dungeon  can  be  so  hideous 
in  thy  sight  as  thou  wilt  be  if  thou  art  traitor  in  the 
sight  of  those  to  wdiom  thy  heart,  in  faith,  was  turned, 
when  all  the  world  was  young  to  thee — when  purity  of 
motive,  purpose,  soul  looked  squarely  out  from  eyes  that 
never  wavered  when  they  met  the  eyes  of  those  who 
loved  and  trusted  them. 

A  little  thing  it  seemed,  when,  midst  the  glamour, 
clanging  bells  and  great  rejoicing  on  that  day  which 
ushered  in  maturity  for  thee,  thy  Father  gave  His  lance 
and  signet  ring  to  thee,  and  bade  thee  hold  the  outer 
Temple  Gate,  that  so  no  enemy  might  gain  the  inner 
Wall — that   Guardian   Wall,   each   stone   of  which   is 

121 


THY  TRUST 

CONTINUED 

chiseled  and  cemented  by  tlie  brawn  and  l)lood  of  count- 
less races  of  mankind — that  AVall  which  guards  the 
greatest  treasure  of  His  Kingdom,  the  holiest  of  Holy 
Things — the  Sacred  Fire,  which,  lit  by  (xod's  own 
Hand,  has  never  since  been  quenched. 

Art  thou  a  traitor,  thou,  the  Son  of  Kings?  Is  thine 
the  hand  that  pierced  the  Wall  and  led  the  foe  within? 

If  so  it  be,  thrice  traitor  then  art  thou.  Thy  Fath- 
er's signet  ring,  thy  ^Mother's  bed,  the  Holy  Fire — all 
jeopardized  by  thee. 

Each  stone  that  fell  through  cause  of  thine  will 
cry  for  vengeance  from  tlie  ground  it  touched. 

By  king  or  beggar,  prince  or  slave,  a  trust  betrayed 
is  all  the  same,  and  bringeth  recompense  in  full. 

Art  tliou  thy  Father's  first-born.  His  beloved  Son? 

Then  stand  behind  His  Throne.  Sharpen  thy 
sword  if  it  hath  rusty  grown,  and  keep  it  drawn.  That 
Throne  is  thine,  and  thou  must  liold  it  in  the  days  to 
come.  As  tliou  defendest  it,  so  shall  it  be  thine  own 
defense,  when  kingdoms  fall  hke  rain,  and  men  in  ter- 
ror flee. 


122 


THE  WORKSHOP 

<<y^():ME  apart  with  me,  thou  child  of  my  beget- 
\i  ting.  Come  apart  from  all  the  noisy  crowd. 
Come  from  under  the  weight  of  man's  infirm- 
ities and  sins.  Come  away  from  the  path  of  the  flood 
of  women's  tears,  the  pressure  of  helpless  children's 
cries,  those  cries  which  beat  unceasingly  upon  the  ears 
of  tender  souls. 

"Come  thou  with  ]Me  into  the  cleft  of  yonder  rock; 
lie  down  and  rest,  and  I  will  show  thee  wondrous  things 
which  thou  mayest  ])ring  to  pass  on  earth,  if  so  thou 
wilt."    Thus  spake  the  Christ. 

"Behold  the  city  of  a  thousand  hills — a  city  white 
and  glorious,  and  in  the  midst  thereof  see  thou  the  poor 
in  spirit,  the  lame,  the  halt,  the  blind,  the  castaways 
of  all  the  earths  the  cyclic  SAveep  of  Time  hatli  gath- 
ered up.  And  over  all  the  mighty  throng,  like  out- 
spread wings  above  a  nest,  see  thou  the  peace  of  God, 
the  glory  shining  from  His  face  and  sweeping  o'er  and 
o'er  each  w^orn  and  battered  form,  until  that  form  is 
lost  within  the  glory  to  appear  again  like  unto  God. 

"Then  see  thou  One  in  simple  majesty  of  form  who 
saith  unto  the  throng  about  Him:  'Listen,  children  of 
my  soul!  Lo!  ye  have  suffered,  labored,  danced  and 
played  these  many  years  on  earth,  w^hence  ye  are  now 
released.  While  under  glamour  of  the  Jinns  ye  have 
believed  tliat  ve  were  laboring  hard  and  sore  bestead, — 


123 


THE  WORKSHOP 

CONTINUED 

but  now  with  JNIe  get  ye  unto  your  work — the  work  of 
Gods  and  Angels. 

"  'The  glory  and  the  peace  that  ye  have  won  with 
Me  must  be  transferred  to  earth  and  we  must  do  the 
mighty  work.  Breathe  deep  and  fill  your  hearts,  and 
by  the  strands  of  Love  we  weave  thereof,  descend  to 
earth  swiftly,  silently  seek  out  the  rich,  the  powerful, 
the  great,  the  sorely  tempted,  blind  and  halt  and  lame 
of  soul  who  know  not  yet  how  poor  they  are,  and,  throw- 
ing off  our  breastplates,  set  free  the  streams  of  Love 
and  Peace  and  Glory  within  our  hearts,  for  sore  indeed 
is  now  their  need. 

"'The  earth  will  change.  There  will  be  no  more 
sea.  Heaven  will  be  brought  to  earth,  the  t^vain  be 
merged  in  one,  and  then  at  last  Love  will  l)e  justified, 
its  will  be  done  when  we  have  lossed  the  chains  which 
bind  the  souls  of  men.' 

"All  this  will  I  show  thee  when  thou  comest  apart 
with  Me,  for  know  ye  now  that  Heaven  is  the  Work- 
shop of  the  Gods,  and  earth  the  playground  of  the 
Jinns. 

"Man  must  make  his  Heaven,  if  he  would  dwell 
therein,  and  he  can  only  make  it  as  he  worketh  day  by 
day  with  Me,  apart  from  all,  yet  one  with  all."  Thus 
spake  the  Christ. 

124 


THE  INTERVALS  OF  LIFE 


LOOK  for  the  secrets  contained  in  the  intervals. 
The  sounded  notes  plainly  tell  their  stories  to 
the  listening  ear,  hut  what  man  hath  sounded  the 
deeply   hidden   mysteries   of   the   rests    hetween    those 
notes  ^ 

Bury  the  past.  Open  the  door  of  the  future  that 
the  resurrected  may  improve  the  present  opportunity. 

Life's  mvsteries  are  only  mysterious  to  the  deaf  and 
bhnd. 

The  mind  of  God  is  mirrored  in  the  mind  of  man, 
and  he  who  would  know  God  must  first  know  man. 

Individual  man  is  the  tool.  Life  is  the  JSIaster  work- 
man now  building  the  LTniversal  Temple.  The  stones 
for  its  building  are  the  divine  principles  carved  by  the 
hand  of  God,  and  the  mortar  for  their  laying  is  wet  ])y 
the  tears  of  the  human  race.  Xot  until  the  Temple  is 
complete  will  stone  and  tool  attain  to  consciousness  of 
the  glory  to  be  revealed  in  them. 

In  all  the  literature  of  the  world  there  is  naught  so 
supremely  selfish,  in  the  highest  acceptance  of  the  term, 
as  are  the  exhortations  of  the  Beatitudes.  In  praying 
for  those  who  despitefully  use  you  and  persecute  you, 
you  are  praying  for  yourself,  for  the  sinner  and  the 
sinned  against  are  one  in  the  Christ  to  whom  appeal  is 
made.  The  merciful,  the  pure  in  heart,  are  each  your- 
self; you  are  the  blessed,  yours  the  reward.  You  can- 
not separate  yourself  from  your  brother  self.  You  can 
neither  pray  for,  bless  or  curse  one  witliout  the  other. 
Yet  must  you  pray  and  bless  and  work,  or  die  tlie  deatli 
of  the  unregenerate. 


125 


"I  HAVE  KEPT  THE  FAITH" 

BEATS  there  a  lieart  so  callous,  so  iuiresi)onsive 
as  to  feel  no  thrill  of  courage,  no  feeling  of  grati- 
tude that  it  belongs  to  the  same  grade  of  sub- 
stance, beats  to  the  same  measure  as  that  which  envel- 
oped the  man  and  prompted  the  words  of  the  dying 
Paul:    "I  have  kept  the  faith"? 

What  would  be  the  result  if  the  Higher  Self  of 
each  one  called  upon  us  to  make  a  similar  assertion  in 
the  hearing  of  a  waiting  multitude,  after  years  of  such 
trial  as  Paul  endured  for  his  "faith's  sake"? 

And  what  is  this  faith  which  Paul  once  defined  as 
"the  substance  of  things  hoped  for"  ? 

The  answer  comes  from  the  heart  of  all  things  and 
wells  up  from  our  own  hearts  to  our  lips,  "It  is  the  life 
of  our  life — the  one  attribute — the  basic  principle  of 
all  our  hopes,  fears,  longings  and  possibilities.  With- 
out it  we  were  the  most  forlorn,  helpless  and  hopeless 
creatures  in  the  wide  universe." 

When  all  we  have  loved,  trusted,  worked  for, 
prayed  for,  endured  for,  leaves  us  some  day  in  the  midst 
of  one  of  the  fiercest  storms  of  trial;  when  it  seems  as 
though  the  very  foundations  of  the  world  were  giving 
away  and  we  were  plunging  into  the  depth  of  Hades; 
out  from  some  inner  shrine,  some  holy  place,  where  God 
is  dwelling  in  fulness  for  the  time  being,  there  comes 
a  soft  whisper  to  our  inner  ear,  bringing  in  its  wake  a 
wave  of  hope  and  courage  which  stirs  some  stagnant, 

126 


"I  HAVE  KEPT  THE  FAITH" 

CONTINUED 

long-neglected  deep  of  our  fiature  and  sets  it  into  ra])- 
idly  pulsating  motion:  and  then  into  our  hearts  and 
heads  is  wafted  the  message:  "Be  of  good  cheer,  I 
have  overcome." 

Overcome  what^  and  hy  what?  questions  the  lower 
mind. 

Clear  cut  and  sliarp  comes  tlie  answer:  "Overcome 
the  world  and  all  tliat  is  in  it  that  is  antagonistic  to  the 
highest  good  and  overcome  it  by  the  power  of  Faith." 
Faith  sees  the  first  step  of  the  long  ladder  we  must 
climb,  and  then  glances  along  the  other  ste])s  and  says 
to  us:  "Take  that  first  step  and  the  rest  will  be  easy:" 
faith  tliat  looks  into  the  heavens  of  a  starlit  night  and 
says:  "Even  as  the  hand  of  Infinity  holds  those  worlds 
in  equilibrium,  as  century  after  century  they  traverse 
unending  spaces,  so  will  that  same  hand  hold  this  little 
world  which  constitutes  my  individual  self,  so  I  have 
no  occasion  to  fear.  All  I  need  is  power  to  will  and 
work — the  Infinite  Father  will  do  the  rest.  Faith  walks 
by  one's  side,  even  if  its  face  be  veiled,  as  we  stumble 
down  the  dark  valley  of  death  and  through  hells  be- 
neath— those  hells  that  have  quenclied  the  fires  of  hope, 
of  love,  of  mercy,  of  even  desire  for  existence — and 
says:  "Look  up,  beloved,  this  is  not  all  of  life:  take 
me,  use  me  as  a  shield  against  the  darts  of  the  devils 
that  haunt  this  place,  and  fight  thy  way  out."     And. 

127 


"I  HAVE  KEPT  THE  FAITH" 

CONTINUED 

listening  to  that  plea  and  obeying  it,  we  find  the  way 
opening  before  us;  we  find  the  devils  were  either  power- 
less to  injure  us  or  that  they  were  unsubstantial,  tran- 
sitory, dream  figures  which  melt  away  before  our  eyes, 
as  step  by  step  we  advance,  covered  by  that  shield  of 
Faith. 

Aye,  Faith  is  indeed  the  life  of  our  life,  the  impulse 
to  every  w^orthy  action;  the  basis  of  every  invention, 
every  scientific  discovery,  every  advance  in  all  fields 
of  life;  and  more  than  all  else  to  the  longing,  soul- 
starved  human  being  hopeless  of  ever  being  understood 
by  or  ever  gaining  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  those  it  loves 
and  serves,  and  overcome  with  a  horrible  fear  of  death, 
and  even  worse  fear  of  continued  life. 

What  words  can  picture  the  return  of  a  lost  faith 
to  such  an  one? 

Dwelling  on  all  these  truths,  can  we  not  imagine 
with  what  wholesome  pride  came  the  words:  "I  have 
kept  the  faith,"  from  the  lips  of  that  old,  wornout, 
dying  man;  worn  out  in  the  service  of  his  fellowmen 
and  the  Christ  he  loved? 

Who  would  not  reverently  repeat  the  same  words 
to  himself  and  pray  that  he  too  might  be  able  to  utter 
them  in  a  like  hour  of  supreme  trial,  in  the  same  spirit 
and  with  the  same  power? 

The  greatest  Initiate,  the  Iiumblest  slave  may  have 
a  right  to  utter  tliem;  and  in  the  utterance  the  two 
would  be  made  one  in  the  heart  of  Infinite  Love. 

128 


OPEN  THINE  EYES 


OPEN  thine  eyes, — the  eyes  of  thy  Soul, — poor, 
fickle,  changeable  atom  of  man  that  thou  art,  lest 
thou  blindly  enter  again  and  again  the  flames  of 
the  nether  fires,  when  the  free,  glad  fields  of  Elysian 
bliss  are  thine  for  thy  Willing  and  Seeking. 

Knowest  thou  not  that  the  loyal  service  of  thy  friend 
to  even  that  which  seemeth  error  unto  thee,  will  bring 
that  friend,  and  thee  with  him,  (if  so  be  that  thou  art 
true),  unswervingly  to  righteous  principle;  for  loyalty 
to  aught  that  God  hath  made,  whatever  be  the  name 
that  man  bestows  upon  it,  will  bring  thee  surely,  safely 
to  the  heart  of  God,  though  dark  and  devious  be  the 
paths  thy  feet  doth  tread  to  reach  that  heart. 

Never  canst  thou  reach  thy  goal,  the  goal  where 
God  in  Christ  doth  dwell  eternally,  if  false  to  thine  own 
soul.    And  false  thou  art  if  false  unto  thy  brethren. 

Even  though  a  seeming  Christ  in  form  shouldst 
come  to  thee  and  say,  "Come  unto  me  and  sit  henceforth 
on  my  right  hand,  though  in  the  coming,  I  must  bid  thee 
crush  the  hearts  of  these  thy  brethren  underfoot,"  I  say 
to  thee.  Beware!  Not  so  doth  come  the  Christ.  But 
Satan  in  the  guise  of  Christ  might  well  deceive  thee,  if 
it  be  that  thou  hast  never  known  that  God  cannot  belie 
Himself.  God  in  Truth,  is  Truth  sublime,  and  Truth 
is  Loyalty,  before,  above,  beyond,  all  other  attributes. 


129 


OPEN  THINE  EYES 


If  thou  dost  deem  thy  brother  sore  deceived,  be 
brave  enough  to  walk  upright,  unwavering,  by  that 
brother's  side  till  thou  hast  led  him  into  what  is  Light 
to  thee,  or  through  the  paths  of  pain  that  thou  hast 
walked  with  him,  perchance  thou  shalt  learn  that  he  held 
the  Light  and  thou  wert  in  the  shadow.  Only  so  can 
Christ  the  INIaster  come  to  thee  and  offer  thee  in  truth 
a  place  at  his  right  hand. 


130 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST 


POOR,  striken  soul,  that  needs  must  lay  thy  cru- 
cified— thy  Christ — within  a  sepulchre  and  seal 
the  door,  while  yet  some  other  soul  hath  sought 
and  found  the  Christ  alive.  Alive  in  every  tree  and 
flower,  in  heast  and  bird  as  well  as  in  the  human  heart, 
where,  in  thine  ignorance,  thou  now  wouldst  fain  con- 
fine Him,  in  fear  that  Christ  might  })e  degraded  by  too 
close  a  contact  with  the  lesser  souls  wliich  truly  He 
alone  could  ever  bring  to  life  and  l)eing. 

Stricken  sore  indeed  is  he  who  in  his  selfish  sorrow 
for  the  Christ  who  died,  his  worship  of  all  funeral  trap- 
pings, doth  fail  to  see  the  living  Christ  in  every  thing 
and  creature,  as  well  as  in  the  heart  of  every  earnest 
seeker  for  the  truth,  who  undertakes  his  search  to  still 
the  yearning  cry  within  his  soul  for  sight  or  sound  of 
that  wdiich,  from  the  inmost  recesses  of  human  life,  is 
ever  drawing  all  Its  own  to  recognition  of  Itself. 

There  is  no  rest,  no  peace  for  such  a  stricken  one 
until  the  great  reality  beyond  all  seeming  comes  to 
birth  within  himself,  and  sets  him  free  to  seek  wherever 
Truth  doth  lead,  e'en  though  it  he  through  all  the  fires 
of  Hell  or  to  the  very  gates  of  Heaven.  For  where 
the  Christ  hath  gone,  all  men  may  go,  upheld  and  com- 
forted by  the  same  love  that  hath  sustained  and  com- 
forted each  seeker  for  the  Grail  since  time  for  man 
began. 


131 


JUSTICE 


THE  Stars  are  now  rocking  with  the  tread  of  the 
vast  army  of  Souls  who  are  coming  from  far-off 
fields  of  Hadean  darkness  to  demand  of  you,  of 
me,  of  all  the  races  of  mankind,  speedy  release  from  the 
weight  of  the  fiery  chains  they  have  been  loaded  with; 
surcease  from  the  anguish  they  are  now  enduring  be- 
cause of  our  refusal  or  neglect  to  profit  by  their  mar- 
tyrdom, when  they,  in  love,  have  lain  their  torn  and 
mangled  bodies  down  upon  the  earth  that  we  might 
step  thereon  to  reach  with  ease  a  higher  round  of  the 
Cosmic  ladder,  and  so  open  the  gates  which  now  shut 
them  out  of  Heaven. 

Vengeance  for  outraged  love  has  been  the  burden  of 
the  loud  wail  that  has  shaken  the  foundations  of  the 
earth  for  ages  gone. 

"Vengeance  is  mine,"  answers  the  Lord  our  God, 
"And  I  am  love." 

Out  from  the  midst  of  the  great  White  Throne 
comes  the  command,  "Open  wide  the  Star  strewn  vaults 
of  the  Heavens,  ye  Angels  of  the  Gates,  and  let  the 
victims  of  man's  inhumanity  pass  through  to  behold 
the  administration  of  long  defeated  justice." 


132 


'MY  FATHER  " 


WHEN  the  storm  center  of  thy  life  is  stirred  to 
its  focal  point  and  thy  whole  being  is  dissolved 
in  the  mighty  thought  waves  which  sweep  un- 
checked to  the  boundaries  set  by  thine  own  soul;  when 
from  amidst  the  roar  and  tumult  of  thy  clashing 
thoughts,  there  comes  a  low,  gasping,  shuddering, 
"Father,  hear  me,  save  me,"  thinkest  thou  thy  Father 
will  fail  to  recognize  the  tones  of  thy  voice  amidst  the 
myriad  voices  assailing  His  ears  and  so  will  pass  thee 
by  unheeding?  Ah,  thou  little  knowest:  Couldst  thy 
Mother's  ear  be  deceived  in  the  voice  of  her  child? 
Would  it  matter  to  her  what  name  thou  gavest  her? 
Whether  thou  cryest  in  pain  or  in  joy?  Would  not 
soul  reach  soul  unhampered  by  other  earthly  sounds  at 
the  first  sound  of  thy  voice? 

Then  why  shouldst  thou  doubt  that  thy  Father  is 
more  able  to  hear  the  voice  of  His  child,  whether  thou 
callest  Him  Jehovah  or  God,  Zeus  or  Jupiter? 

The  name  thou  now  bearest  will  die  with  thee,  but 
thine  own  name,  thy  true  name,  is  graven  on  the  hands 
and  in  the  heart  of  thy  Father  in  Heaven,  and  though 
thy  Father's  name  has  never  passed  the  lips  of  mortal 
man,  that  name  is  graven  in  thine  own  heart,  and  that 
heart,  unconsciously  mayhap  to  thee,  cries  out  that 
name  when  it  prompts  thee  to  say,  "My  Father." 


133 


THE  WEAPONS  OF  THE  SELF  BORN 


AH,  "little  one,"  thou  child  of  the  long  travail  of 
the  Christs,  how  weak  thy  struggle,  how  unfitted 
art  thou  for  the  battle  with  the  powers  of  evil 
now  arrayed  against  thee! 

Unwitting  of  the  methods  of  thy  forbears, — they 
who  fought  the  Dragon  with  its  own  sharp  claws  and 
slew  it  past  all  hope  of  resurrection, — thou  hast  yet  but 
learned  to  grasp  such  weapons  as  they  used  to  crush  the 
crawling  worm. 

Arouse  thyself  and  seek  to  slay  that  Dragon's  pro- 
geny,— the  Dragon's  teeth  sown  over  all  the  earth, — 
tenfold  more  the  spawn  of  Evil  than  the  power  which 
gave  them  birth. 

Wilt  thou  stand  by  supine  and  let  them  slay  the 
good,  the  pure,  the  holy, —  yea,  slay  thyself,  in  this  most 
cruel  of  the  cruel  wars  that  ever  devastated  dwelling 
place  of  man, — the  w^ar  of  self  'gainst  self? 

When  all  Illusions  sensuous  coils  are  wound  about 
thine  eyes  thine  enemy  doth  seize  thy  strength  to  turn 
the  face  of  Truth,  of  Holiness  and  Wisdom  to  the  wall 
of  Sense,  and  places  in  their  stead  the  well  disguised, 
the  cold  and  passionless,  the  craven  faces  of  thy  foes, 
while  they  would  force  thee  to  thy  knees  in  slavish  wor- 
ship of  the  dead  in  life. 

Arouse  thee,  child  though  now  thou  art,  unbind 
thine  eyes,  and  even  in  the  time  a  sunbeam  takes  to 
strike  the  earth,  the  weapons  of  the  Self-born  shall  de- 
scend to  thee  and  thou  shalt  tear  those  evil  faces  from 
the  wall  and  bring  again  to  light  the  hidden  faces  of 
the  Gods  of  Truth,  of  Justice,  Love  and  Wisdom. 

134 


THE  GREATEST  IS  CHARITY 

^*T3  UT  the  greatest  of  these  is  Charity."  Charity 
|j  which  covers  a  multitude  of  sins,  the  charity 
which  recognizes  and  accepts  responsihiHty  for 
the  man  or  woman  in  the  depths  of  degradation,  as  at 
least  partly  due  to  the  vileness  of  his  own  imaginings, 
and  the  imaginings  of  every  other  person  who  has  im- 
puted evil  to  such  an  one;  for  know,  ye  who  prate  of 
possession  of  the  power  of  suggestion,  of  hypnotism,  of 
psychic  jjower,  that  you — you,  my  hrother — if  guilty, 
will  answer  in  the  great  day  of  settlement  for  the  con- 
dition of  that  fallen  one.  If  he  goes  to  Hell,  you  will 
go  with  him.  Owning  to  the  possession  of  the  power 
that  would  have  lifted  him  from  the  depths  into  which 
he  had  sunk,  or  had  been  pushed,  mayhap,  by  the  phar- 
isee  who  now  passes  by  on  the  other  side,  you  have  let 
that  power  lie  idle.  You — you,  my  sister,  will  face  the 
inquisitor  ])y  the  side  of  the  sister  you  have  despised, 
the  child  you  have  left  orphaned,  desolate,  to  the  care 
of  the  "beasts  of  the  jungles" — "the  beasts  of  mam- 
mon,"— because  its  mother  and  father  had  not  been 
united  by  another  man's  ceremony. 

You — you,  my  sister,  my  brother,  who  strip  every 
thread  of  reputation  from  a  weaker  brother  or  sister; 
you  who  bring  the  wolves  and  jackals  of  society  to  tear 
the  flesh — the  good  name — from  the  bones  of  another 
human  being,  when  in  letters  of  living  fire  the  one  word 
CHARITY  looms  up  before  your  inner  eyes.  You 
see  it  on  altar,  transept,  and  over  the  entrances  of  your 
great  temples  and  churches.  The  arches  or  the  naves 
of  those  temples  are  trembling  from  the  volume  of  rich 
sound  from  organ  and  from  voice,  as  they  breathe  out 
in  song — the  theme  of  Charity. 

135 


THE  GREATEST  IS  CHARITY 

CONTINUED 

You  who  reach  out  a  hand,  in  your  pov^erty  and 
wretchedness  to  a  sister,  a  brother,  to  be  fed;  and  when 
your  craving  for  material  food  is  satisfied,  when  the 
riches  of  sj^iritual  teachings  have  poured  out  upon  you 
in  their  fulness,  turn  and  bite  the  hand  that  fed  you,  or 
pour  out  the  vitals  of  long  suppressed  jealousy  and  rage. 

"Charity  for  me,"  cry  such  poor  souls,  "but  the  tor- 
ments of  Hell  for  thee,"  if  thou  hast  given  them  charity, 
and  they  are  not  big  enough  to  rest  under  the  weight 
of  kindness. 

There  is  a  river  broad  and  deep  enough  to  cover 
the  path  of  a  solar  system,  the  waters  of  which  are  pure 
and  sweet  and  cleansing  enough  to  give  life  and  healing 
and  joy  surpassing  aught  we  know;  and  the  name  of 
that  river  is  color  carven  and  jeweled  in  the  sky  above, 
and  over  all  its  length  and  breadth.  We  call  it  Con- 
sciousness. 

Out  from  its  etheric  counterpart,  in  strains  past  hu- 
man teUing,  sounds  eternally  the  echoes  of  the  song 
of  Life. 

Enter  that  river,  lie  down  on  its  bosom,  let  its  wa- 
ters pour  over  and  through  your  soiled  and  weary 
bodies. 

Drink  of  it,  laugh  with  it,  weep  with  it;  then  rise 
up  and  go  out  into  the  world  and  hunt  for  the  thirsty, 
the  soiled,  the  weary,  and  bring  them,  too,  to  the  banks 
of  that  river. 

There  on  its  banks  shalt  thou  find  a  diadem  await- 
ing thee,  and  carven  deep  on  the  golden  circlet,  em- 
blazoned with  iewels  of  attainment,  shalt  thou  find  the 
word— Charity— LOVE. 

136 


TO  MINE  OWN 

A  TRUST  I  gave  to  thee,  the  Escutcheon  of  thy 
Father's  House,  the  honor  of  a  hue  of  brave  de- 
fenders, warriors  of  old,  who  hated  hfe  if  it  hut 
interfered  a  jot  with  Truth  and  Justice;  \yho  gave  their 
lives  without  a  pang,  at  the  demand  of  Right. 

I  bade  thee  keep  that  Trust  secure  from  all  thy 
Father's  foes  and  thine.  I  bade  thee  seek  and  find  thy 
brethren  in  those  spheres  whence  they  were  driven  by 
the  powers  of  darkness  when  closed  the  last  fierce  strug- 
gle 'twixt  the  White  and  the  Black. 

I  bade  thee  see  to  it,  no  stain  should  rest  upon  thine 
armor,  no  rust  upon  thy  sword.  I  come  again  to  thee 
to  ask  that  thou  shouldst  draw  that  sword,  to  test  its 
metal,  throw  off  the  cloak  that  hides  thine  armor  that 
I  may  judge  how  thou  hast  kept  the  Faith.  I  bid  thee 
open\vide  thy  vestments  that  I  may  feast  mine  eyes 
upon  the  brightness  of  thy  breastplate.  The  day  of 
USE  draws  nigh,  and  I  must  try  my  weapons. 

Shall  I  find  thine  honor  in  the  dust,  thy  brethren 
still  in  bondage,  the  glory  of  thy  House  departed, 
through  thy  faithlessness  or  weakness?  Or  shall  I  find 
thee  staunch  and  true,  one  of  the  unconquerable;  find 
thee  still  the  stainless  peer  of  all  thy  forbears? 

Deep  now  loudly  calls  to  greater  deeps  across  the 
waves  of  human  woe.  The  long  expected  day  of  Sepa- 
ration draweth  nigh. 

Those  who  are  mine  will  answer  "Here"  when 
sounds  the  rallying  cry.  Those  who  have  faithlessly 
given  their  troth  to  another  must  go  to  that  other. 

The  Gage  of  the  mighty  in  power  of  today  has  been 
flung  in  the  faces  of  the  Warriors  of  Light,  and  the 
battle  of  Right  against  Might  is  on. 

137 


PRAYER 


REACH  down,  lost  soul  though  thou  be,  thou  who 
deniest  the  source  of  thy  life,  thou  who  hast  for- 
gotten thine  ancestry,  thou  who  hast  flung  thy 
younger  brotlier  into  the  pit  thine  own  desire  hath  dug, 
and  filched  from  him  his  heritage  for  thine  own  glory. 
Thou  who  hast  made  a  playground  of  thy  Father's 
heart,  and  watered  the  seeds  of  thine  own  decay  with 
thy  Mother's  tears. 

Thou  who  thinkest  there  is  no  eye  of  God  to  see 
the  bastard  forms  thou  hast  created;  no  ear  of  God  to 
hear  the  blasphemous  ribaldry  with  which  thou  hast 
polluted  the  air  thou  must  breathe. 

Reach  down,  lost  soul  though  thou  be,  beneath  the 
trough  of  the  rolling  w^ave  of  thine  earthly  passion,  and 
search  for  the  light  of  the  Christ  which  even  yet  shines 
in  thee.  'Make  sl  path  through  that  wave  by  Faith, 
that  the  light  may  pass  through  to  search  out  thine 
heart,  and — fall  on  thy  knees! 

To  him  who  saith  to  thee,  "There  is  no  God  to 
listen  to  thy  mouthings,"  do  thou  as  I  bid  thee,  fling 
back  the  foul  lie  in  his  face,  for  lie  it  is. 

No  soul  hath  ever  lifted  its  voice  in  prayer  for  suc- 
cor in  its  hour  of  peril  that  hath  been  turned  back  upon 
itself. 

The  foulest  wrong  one  soul  may  do  unto  another 
is  to  rob  it  of  its  faith  in  God. 


138 


PRAYER 

CONTINUED 

Pray  unceasingly,  but  not  as  one  without  hope. 
Pray  in  praise,  in  certainty  that  there  are  ears  to  hear, 
e'en  though  they  be  not  molded  on  the  pattern  of  thine 
own,  e'en  though  the  answer  to  thy  prayer  doth  tarry 
till  the  water  from  the  well  of  life  hath  overflowed  its 
rim  and  once  more  filled  the  shrunken  tissues  of  thy 
soul,  and  washed  away  all  stain  of  sin,  that  so  the  fiery 
streams  of  Love  Divine  now  held  in  leash  by  that  one 
Christly  gleam  within  thy  soul,  may  egress  find  to  ut- 
terly destroy  all  that  lies  between  thy  God  and  thee, 
between  thee  and  the  Ocean  of  all  Life. 


139 


ASK  AND  RECEIVE 

THOU  who  knowest  that  all  life  is  ceaseless,  puls- 
ing motion,  knowest  that  a  sun  must  rise  and  set 
each  day,  that  every  heart-beat  is  in  perfect  time 
and  rhythm;  thou,  who  knowest  well  that  food  of  yes- 
terday will  not  sustain  thy  body  for  the  morrow's  toil, 
thinkest  thou,  the  law  divine  will  be  repealed  when  only 
once  a  cry  for  Christly  bread  hath  passed  thy  lips  and 
that  forever  more  a  full  supply  will  be  before  thine 
eyes,  unasked  by  thee? 

Ah,  no!  a  full  supply  awaits  thine  asking,  but  thou 
must  ask  each  day  or  suffer  in  thy  soul  from  want,  as 
now  thy  body  suffers  from  the  lack  of  food  when  thou 
dost  not  provide. 


140 


HEARKEN  TO  ME 


HEARKEN,  ye  children  of  the  New  Dispensa- 
tion! The  time  is  near  at  hand  when  He  who 
is  to  come  will  reappear  among  men  for  the  uni- 
fication of  the  races  of  the  earth.  Open  your  eyes  that 
they  may  see.  Open  your  ears  that  they  may  hear. 
And  open  your  hearts  that  the  Son  of  Man  may  have 
place  to  lay  his  head,  lest  He  pass  you  by  and  ye  know 
him  not. 


141 


LIFT  UP  THINE  EYES 


LIFT  up  thine  eyes,  O  man,  O  little  man.  Lift 
up  thine  eyes  that  so  thou  mayest  behold  the 
Angels  of  the  spheres;  the  Holy  Ones  who  rode 
the  crest  of  fiery  billows  set  in  motion  by  the  Sons  of 
Flame  long  ere  a  thought  of  thee  had  crossed  the  mind 
of  God. 

Look  up,  that  so  perchance  thou  mayest  catch  the 
pitying  glances  cast  on  this  dark  star  in  passing,  by 
those  angel  hosts. 

Tied  to  the  same  wheel  of  life  as  thou,  yet  tied  by 
their  own  will,  midway  between  the  heavens  and  earth 
they  circle  round  to  hold  in  equilibrium  the  lesser  worlds 
which  otherwise  would  be  unbalanced. 

Xo  need  have  they  to  veil  their  eyes. 

Full  in  the  faces  of  the  glorious  suns  they  look, 
their  eyes  untroubled,  unashamed  by  aught  that  meets 
those  mirrored  depths. 

Messengers  are  they  'twixt  Gods  and  men  and  this 
the  message  now  they  bring  to  thee :  "Lift  up  thy  face, 
O  man,  to  whom  the  gods  gave  hands  in  place  of  paws ; 
the  gods  who  set  thee  on  thy  feet  and  lifted  up  thy  head, 
the  gods  who  loosed  the  cords  that  bound  thv  face  to 
earth." 

"Lift  up  thy  face,  and  even  shouldst  thou  read  re- 
buke in  those  most  holy  eyes  when  they  shall  meet  thine 
own,  there  also  wilt  thou  find  the  promise  of  release 
when  in  the  days  to  come  thy  feet  shall  also  be  unbound, 
and  nought  have  power  to  hold  thee  longer  to  the  earth." 

142 


THE  GUERDON  OR  THE  LOSS 

HAVE  the  Demons  of  Cowardice,  Indolence  and 
Self-aggrandizement  seized  and  bound  thee  fast, 
thou  child  of  the  Dawn? 

Art  thou  held  in  thrall  by  the  children  of  Night 
— and  fain  would  now  escape?  Then  would  I  bid  thee 
loudly  call  upon  the  Brothers  of  the  fire  mist  to  burn 
the  cords  that  bind  thee  fast  and  set  thee  free  to  take 
thy  place  amidst  the  Warriors  of  the  Light. 

Full  well  thou  knoweth  that  the  guerdon  of  a  bat- 
tle nobly  fought  can  never  fall  to  renegade  or  leech, 
so  hold  thee  still  until  thy  bonds  are  burned  if  thou 
wouldst  fight  to  win. 

No  soldier — chela — of  the  ^lysteries  will  leave  his 
comrades  to  the  beasts  of  prey  which  lurk  amidst  the 
shadows  of  the  army's  rear  he  hath  been  set  to  guard, 
and  run  for  safety  to  the  demons  of  those  shadowy 
wilds.  The  proven  chela  seeks  the  thickest  of  the  fight 
and  there  remains,  within  his  Captain's  call,  till  victory 
comes. 

He  who  would  eat  the  bread  and  drink  the  water 
portioned  to  his  army  corps  in  time  of  peace,  then 
climb  to  safety  o'er  the  dead  he  had  betrayed  while  still 
the  battle  cry  was  sounding  in  his  ears  could  never  win 
the  crown  of  life:  the  Sword  of  Power. 


143 


SING  SOFT  AND  LOW 


SING  soft  and  low,  ye  happy,  hopeful,  helpful  hearts 
— ye  hearts  that  feel  the  first  faint  throb  of  that 
strong  life-beat  pulsing  through  the  unborn  child 
— the  new  humanity. 

Sing  soft  and  low.  Not  yet  the  time  for  swelling 
notes  of  victory.  Sing,  for  sing  ye  must,  and  never 
cease  from  singing.  The  child  is  now  conceived;  the 
birth  pangs  even  now  are  surging  through  the  Mother 
Soul,  and  tho'  the  travail  be  most  hard  and  long,  the 
end  is  even  now  in  sight. 

Unto  God  and  thee  another  Son,  another  King 
will  come  to  rule  in  majesty  and  power. 

Creep  away  into  the  dens  the  underworld  doth 
hold,  ye  drawers  of  the  waters  from  the  wells  of  wom- 
en's eyes,  ye  who  dig  deep  furrows  in  the  faces  of  the 
men  who  suffer  for  your  sins ;  for  there  will  be  no  place 
for  those  who  weep  in  that  new  age,  and  ye  must  weep 
the  measure  of  the  tears  ye  now  are  drawing  from  the 
eyes  of  those  who  love  and  serve  you  well. 

Speak  to  your  hearts,  speak  low  the  words  of  peace 
and  patience,  ye  who  suffer  now,  and  gain  endurance 
through  your  pain. 

Ye  well  may  leave  all  judgments  to  the  law,  for 
yours  will  be  the  prize,  yours  the  honor  of  the  banner 
bearer  through  the  march  of  centuries  to  come. 


144 


THE  LATCH 


LIFT  up  the  latch,  child  of  my  love,  the  latch  to 
the  door  of  thy  Father's  heart:  the  door  of  that 
home  thou  hast  left  in  rebellion  to  wander  afar 
into  darkness  and  squalor,  in  want  and  in  sorrow:  left 
it  to  seek,  yet  always  to  miss,  the  peace  of  fulfilment, 
the  joy  of  attainment. 

Dost  thou  remember,  son  of  my  sun,  when  thy 
thoughts  wander  homeward,  that  only  in  seeming  that 
latch  closed  the  door;  remember  that  inside  the  door 
was  no  latch  and  no  fastening,  and  he  who  would  enter 
had  only  to  stoop  to  the  latch  hanging  downward,  lift 
it  and  enter  the  door  of  his  home? 

If  a  child  willed  to  enter  a  touch  of  his  finger  would 
lift  high  the  latch,  the  door  would  swing  open,  a  face 
there  would  meet  him;  wide  open  arms  would  enfold 
him,  and  bring  him  perforce  ])ack  again  to  his  own. 

So  now  hangs  the  latcli  to  the  door  of  my  heart, 
but  of  thine  own  free  will  must  thou  lift  it  to  enter. 


145 


THOU  HAST  DONE  WELL 


CLOSE  the  door,  my  child,  shut  out  the  sin,  the 
shame  and  sorrow.  Close  the  door,  for  all  who 
enter  here  touch  holy  ground. 

All  sad  todays  and  yesterdays  are  lost  in  the  tomor- 
rows of  the  souls  that  enter  here,  and  all  the  brightness 
of  the  days  between  is  here  before  thee,  waiting  here  for 
thee.  All  of  good  that  thou  hast  ever  lost,  all  recom- 
pense for  pain,  is  here;  so  close  the  door,  my  child,  and 
come  into  thine  own. 

Close  the  door.  I  would  not  bid  thee  come  to  me 
and  close  the  way  to  thy  return,  did  I  not  know  thy 
(hity  done —  the  prize  of  all  fulfilment  won  by  thee. 

That  which  now  remains,  between  thee  and  the  goal 
thou  long  hast  sought  is  just  the  open  door,  thy  pity 
and  thy  fear  forbids  thee  now  to  close. 

Why  lingerest  thou?  The  wail  of  human  woe  now 
falling  on  thine  ear  comes  not  from  child  of  thine,  or 
friend.  'Tis  but  the  wail,  the  torturing  screams  of  hosts 
of  souls  imprisoned  by  their  higher  selves  for  sins  'gainst 
thee  and  me  and  all  the  human  race. 

Thou  wilt  not?  Thou  desirest  still  to  stay  amidst 
the  lost  when  joy  and  peace  are  thine  just  for  the  tak- 
ing? Thou  sayest  Heaven  would  not  be  Heaven  for 
thee  if  memory  of  the  cries  of  the  condemned  remained 
with  thee. 


146 


THOU  HAST  DONE  WELL 

CONTINUED 

So  be  it!  Thou  hast  chosen  well;  for  all  the  aisles 
of  Heaven,  through  all  eternity,  would  echo  and  re- 
echo all  its  cries,  if  but  a  single  soul  were  left  in  Hell, 
on  that  great  day  when  are  recalled  by  God,  the  sons 
He  once  sent  forth  to  do  his  bidding.  And  it  is  best 
for  thee  that  thou  hast  chosen  to  remain  in  chains  of 
flesh  if  so  be  thou  mayest  hasten  that  great  day  by  help- 
ing up  some  weaker  soul  than  thine ;  some  soul  that  fell 
and  could  not  rise  alone,  and  by  its  fall  had  blocked  the 
way  for  all  who  followed  in  its  train.  Aye,  thou  hast 
done  well,  mv  child! 


147 


THE  CENTRAL  FLAME 

THE  nearer  the  disciple  approaches  to  the  Central 
Flame  of  the  great  Initiation  Chamber,  the  keen- 
er grows  his  sensitiveness  to  the  heat  of  the  fire, 
the  stronger  is  his  realization  of  its  power  over  him. 
As  the  tongues  of  flame  search  out  the  tender  places 
of  his  flesh  he  sinks  back  in  terror  and  fain  would  turn 
and  flee  from  the  face  of  the  Are  that  has  hitherto  been 
his  God,  even  must  he  fly  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
universe. 

If  he  have  the  power  to  stand  still  while  the  dross 
of  his  lower  self  be  burned  away  and  he  sees  his  heart's 
blood  splashing  the  pavement  at  his  feet,  all  life  is 
changed  for  him;  his  former  fear  and  shrinking  are  lost 
in  an  overwhelming  love  which  embraces  even  the  flames 
whereby  he  has  suffered.  With  face  transfigured  and 
his  once  gross  body  now  a  centre  of  radiating  light,  he 
steps  from  the  base  of  the  flame  into  the  great  Circle 
of  Conservation— Universal  Love.  He  is  no  longer 
a  stake  for  demons  to  fight  over,  but  a  man  among  men, 
a  God  among  Gods. 


148 


FAITHFULNESS 


SAY  thou  to  my  Children: 
Faithfuhiess  to  each  individual  Ideal  of  the 
Soul  of  all  Things  and  to  Us,  as  representatives 
of  the  Great  Lodge,  will  bring  them  close  to  us.  But, 
if  they  would  come  still  nearer,  they  must  not  forget 
that  he  who  would  drink  of  our  cup  must  needs  find 
it  a  cup  of  renunciation  and  sorrow,  as  well  as  of  joy 
unspeakable. 

Only  by  kneeling  in  the  dust  of  this  Scarred  old 
Star  can  we  press  our  lips  to  the  hem  of  the  Christ-gar- 
ment— that  garment  whence  cometh  the  healing,  life- 
giving  streams,  which  alone  can  wash  away  the  tears 
from  our  eyes,  the  bitterness  from  our  hearts. 

We  can  but  grope  around  in  the  darkness  of  ma- 
terial life  in  our  search  for  that  gracious  garment — 
Compassion.  But,  haply  in  our  groping,  our  weary 
hands  may  suddenly  touch  the  hand  of  God — the  hand 
that  with  a  wave  may  throw  back  the  curtain  shrouding 
Infinity,  and  show  us  not  only  the  hem,  but  the  whole 
garment,  and  our  souls  shining  forth  from  its  pure 
white  folds. 


149 


SEARCH 

AH!  starved  and  starving  souls,  held  in  leash  by 
fear,  while  just  beyond  your  present  vision  is  a 
table  set  that  even  Christ  might  find  delight  in 
serving,  crying  out  or  smothering  the  cry  for  one  dear 
JNIother  Heart  to  lay  thy  head  upon ! 

Riven  hearts  that  pulse  with  longing  for  "the  feel" 
of  some  dear  little  child! 

In  agony  unspeakable,  pain  and  fever,  lie  countless 
stricken  ones,  hopeless  of  relief,  looking  only  to  the 
deep,  dark  stream  beyond  to  drown  their  suffering, 
while  just  above  their  heads  a  hand  is  feeling  for  their 
feeble  wavering  hands  to  lead  them  to  release.  If  thou 
art  one  of  these,  hold  still,  that  so  that  hand  may  clasp 
thine  own. 

Feast  and  Mother,  Child  and  Healing,  Life  and 
Death,  all  doth  lie  within  the  Father's  heart,  that  beats 
through  thine. 

Search,  and  thou  shalt  find!  I  who  tell  thee,  tell 
the  true. 


150 


"HE  COMES  " 

HO!  Outposts,  "Light  the  signal  fires."  From 
Mountain  top  along  the  chain  of  Hearts  which 
girdle  all  the  world,  flash  brightly  out  the  long 
awaited  message — the  message  which  till  now  hath  only 
flickered  softly  in  all  lowly  j^laces,  in  the  coulees  and 
the  quiet  valleys  where  all  Xature  cries  are  hushed  be- 
fore the  couch  of  the  great  World-Mother  in  the  partu- 
rition pains  which  bringeth  a  Christ  to  birth. 

Stretch  out  thy  hand,  O  man,  on  either  side  of  thee 
and  take  thy  brother's  hand,  in  hut,  in  palace,  home  or 
street,  and  form  a  close  wrought  chain  through  which 
no  jot  of  all  the  Love,  the  Righteousness,  the  Justice 
of  a  new,  a  greater  age  may  pass  and  thou  wilt  find 
that  all  the  light  and  glory  of  the  new-born  sun  will 
be  reflected  in  thine  own  glad  face. 


151 


LIFE  IN  DEATH 

THOU  who  bearest  Death's  dark  visage,  reach  out 
and  draw  the  creatures  of  Thy  will  still  closer 
to  Thy  side,  and  let  them  search  Thy  face,  and 
place  their  hands  within  Thy  Heart,  that  so  they  come 
upon  the  secrets  of  Thy  purposes. 

No  fear  of  Thee  have  I,  for  Thou  and  I  have  oft 
clasped  hands  in  peace,  and  now  I  know  Thee  well 
for  That  Thou  art — the  friend  of  man. 

But  these,  my  children,  know  Thee  not,  and  I 
would  plead  that  Thou  draw  near  that  they  may  learn 
that  Life  in  all  its  fulness  lies  within  the  fastnesses  of 
Thy  mysterious  Being. 


152 


COMPASSION^S  VEIL 


THK  ^lerciful  Law,  Compassion's  selfless,  hath 
veiled  thine  eye,  that  while  thou  walkest  in  the 
darkness  of  this  nether  world  thy  sight  should  not 
be  blasted  by  the  glory  shining  forth  from  that  great 
soul  who  bears  my  message  to  the  dead  in  life  as  well 
as  to  the  dying  and  the  still-born  souls  which  throng 
the  portal  of  the  inner  sphere,  and  walk  unhindered 
midst  the  crowds  that  gather  in  the  paths  and  byways 
of  all  sentient  life— the  crowds  which  thou  and  thine 
do  help  to  swell. 

A  robe  of  common  flesh,  ungainly  form,  and  coun- 
tenance that  callest  not  for  lust  of  eye;  no  beauty  hath 
my  Messenger,  that  thou  desirest  it.  Nor  canst  thou 
see  until  thine  inner  eye  is  opened  and  with  reverent 
hand  thou  tearest  down  the  evil  which  hides  that  soul 
from  thee ;  and  this  thou  mayest  not  do,  until  the  Sun  of 
Life  be  shining  bright  within  thy  heart,  for  in  the  dark- 
ness, sudden  light  of  fadiant  soul  would  blind  thine  eyes. 
In  thy  sorrow  for  thy  wasted  opportunities,  thy 
cruelty,  the  needless  anguish  borne  in  thy  behalf,  my 
Messenger  would  also  suffer  in  thy  suffering  as  ne'er 
in  all  its  flight  from  Heaven  to  earth  it  hath  been 
called  to  suffer  for  other  cause  than  that  which  tries 
thy  soul;  the  cause  of  universal  woe, — man's  disobedi- 
ence to  the  law  of  God. 

153 


SHIFT  THY  LOAD 


DOES  the  load  press  hard?  Is  thy  shoulder 
grazed^  Thy  back  bent  low?  Are  thy  nerves 
and  muscles  tense  and  strained  by  the  stress  of 
the  burden  borne?  Doth  the  world  woe  press  thy 
heart  till  it  seem  to  burst  its  leash? 

Then,  child  of  my  sorrow,  shift  the  load  from 
shoulder  to  back,  from  nerve  to  heart,  from  heart  to 
shoulder. 

The  weight  is  needful,  the  close  bound  burden  doth 
hold  the  ransom  and  crown  of  thy  soul. 

Remember!  'tis  always  in  darkness  and  silence — 
in  the  heavy  pressure  of  our  human  w^oe,  that  the 
Light  of  God  conceives  and  brings  its  own  to  birth. 

So  shift  thy  load,  my  child,  and  wait  in  patience 
for  release  until  the  Law  shall  set  thee  free. 

At  least  the  shift  will  give  relief,  and  at  the  most 
it  may  uncover  one  of  Life's  most  precious  mysteries. 


154 


DEBTORS  TO  LIFE 

MY  SOX  why  callest  thou  on  me  for  Succour, 
why  i3lead  for  Wisdom's  gifts,  while  all  un- 
recognized, forgotten  or  neglected,  lie  all  the 
gifts  bestowed  on  thee  in  answer  to  thy  calls  of  long 
past  days. 

To  rid  thy  conscience  of  thy  debtors'  load  thou 
claimest  inalienable  right  to  all  the  Universe  holds  of 
good,  and  base  thy  claim  upon  thy  kinship  with  the 
source  of  thy  frail  life. 

But  Life  is  Law,  and  Law  gives  naught  for  naught. 
He  is  a  thief  who  takes  from  Life  all  that  he  may 
and  then  refuses  payment  of  the  debt  in  kind. 


155 


THE  SPEECH  OF  CHRIST 


HE  WHO  would  tell  thee  that  the  Christ  doth 
speak  to  him  in  words,  deceives  himself  and 
thee. 

Xot  so  doth  speak  the  Christ. 

By  deeds  of  Love  and  Justice  the  Christ  must 
utter  Thought  if  he  would  speak  to  man  while  man 
is  man.  By  deeds  must  give  the  key  the  ^lorning  Star 
sounds  forth  to  constellations  bright,  the  hosts  of 
Heaven  who  sing  the  Cosmic  Symphonies  age  after 
age. 

Words  are  impotent  to  express  or  voice  the 
thoughts  of  God,  and  only  man  of  all  created  things 
hath  scorned  the  thoughts  expressed  in  deeds  and  in 
their  stead  hath  chosen  sound  of  his  own  voice  in  speech 
to  satisfv  his  soul. 


156 


LOYALTY 


SPEAK  the  word  soft  and  low — let  the  vibrations 
of  each  letter  of  the  word  sink  into  the  depths  of 

your  consciousness.  What  mental  pictures  you 
will  find  gathering  upon  the  mirror  of  your  soul! 
Countless  precious  lives  yielded  in  sacrifice  for  Christ's 
sake,  on  the  fiery  altars  raised  to  the  black  demons 
of  human  selfishness  by  the  disloyal.  Pictures  of 
friends,  families,  homes,  laid  on  the  Holy  altars  of 
sacrifice,  for  Truth's  sake,  by  those  who  could  see 
naught  but  a  long,  lonely  path  stretching  far,  far  out 
into  a  hopeless  future;  a  path  which  their  footsore  feet 
must  tread  ere  they  could  catch  a  glimpse  of  their 
promised  reward. 

Pictures  of  gibbets,  scaffolds,  the  rack,  fiery  fur- 
naces and  the  torture  chamber;  and  acres  upon  acres 
of  unmarked  graves — the  sepulchres  of  those  who  once 
trod  the  earth  you  are  treading  today,  with  heads  up- 
lifted to  the  heavens  in  the  hope  of  the  visible  descent 
of  the  Holy  Spirit;  with  hearts  attuned  to  the  keynote 
struck  by  God  when  He  called  His  people  at  the  break 
of  a  new  day. 

Pictures  of  army  after  army,  in  never  ending  pro- 
cession marching  on  to  the  doom  prepared  for  them 
by  their  country's  traitors,  yet  glad  to  yield  up  their 
lives  to  preserve  their  nation's  honor. 

Broken-hearted  but  yet  faithful  mothers,  wives,  sis- 
ters, sinking  into  poverty  and  evil  rather  than  betray 
a  recreant  father,  husband  or  brother  to  the  wild  beasts 
of  human  law. 

157 


LOYALTY 


Loyalty !  Is  it  surprising  that  the  word  falls  heavy 
on  our  hearts,  yet  rises  in  power  and  volume  to  im- 
measureable  heights  when  it  reaches  the  ears  of  our 
souls  ? 

When  you  think  of  that  vast  concourse  of  souls, 
to  any  one  of  which  the  word  Loyal  may  be  fittingly 
applied,  is  it  surprising  that  the  word  stands  for  all 
that  is  courageous,  noble,  great,  when  used  as  a  prefix 
in  designating  man  or  woman?  In  view  of  all  that  this 
one  word  pictures  to  our  inner  sight,  can  we  wonder 
that  we  shrink  appalled  from  the  vicinity  of  one  whom 
the  words  "disloyal,"  "traitor,"  rightly  indicate?  Ah, 
no!  for  "Loyal"  is  graven  on  the  banner  that  covers 
multitudes  of  redeemed.  It  is  graven  on  the  foun- 
dation stones  of  a  universe.  The  suns  and  stars  flash 
it  forth  in  glorious  light  as  they  move  in  their  orbits, 
true  to  the  hand  that  flung  them  into  space. 

Think  you  that  any  human  being  ever  won  and 
wore  the  honor  of  its  bestowal,  by  a  single  act?  Not 
so.  It  is  woven  as  threads  are  woven  in  cloth  of  gold, 
into  the  essential  fabric  of  the  garment  of  the  soul; 
and  when  that  fabric  is  complete  the  soul  need  never 
ask  itself  a  question  as  to  whether  it  be  right  or  wrong, 
when  action  is  to  be  taken  in  any  event,  for  "It  knows;" 
It  could  not  be  false  to  Itself. 

The  dark  places  of  the  earth,  the  depths  of  the 
Eighth  Sphere,  are  fit  habitations  for  the  traitor,  the 
disloyal. 

The  mental  and  moral  effluvia  which  rises  from  the 
dead  soul,  the  soul  murdered   by   disloyalty,   permits 

158 


LOYALTY 

CONTINUED 

no  one  to  be  long  deceived  as  to  the  nature  of  its 
simulacrum — the  body — no  matter  how  fair  the  body, 
how  subtle  the  mind,  to  which  that  dead  soul  is  attached. 

If  you  cannot  be  true  to  the  principles  you  have 
chosen  to  guide  your  lives,  if  you  cannot  be  true  to 
father  or  mother,  wife  or  husband,  nation  or  home; 
how  can  you  be  true  to  your  own  souls?  How  can  you 
be  true  to  your  God — to  your  Higher  Self? 

If  you' find  within  yourself  a  lack  of  power  to  be 
loyal  to  all  the  duties  that  you  have  undertaken,  begin 
now  to  spin  the  golden  threads  that  you  will  need  for 
that  C  bristly  fabric  I  have  mentioned,  by  being  true  in 
little  things';  true  to  your  obligations  to  your  comrades; 
true  to  the  trust  placed  in  you,  when  you  are  left  un- 
watched  to  sweep  a  floor  or  plow  a  field.  The  threads 
will  broaden  and  strengthen  and  multiply,  and  one  day 
you  will  all  unexpectedly  find  there  are  enough  to  weave 
the  fabric  for  the  garment  of  the  soul. 

You  cannot  be  true  to  yourself  and  false  to  your 
friend  at  the  same  time ;  the  singing  bird  and  the  snake 
cannot  live  together  in  one  field. 

You  cannot  be  true  to  God  and  false  to  your  neigh- 
bor, for  God  and  your  neighbor  are  one. 

"Truth"  does  "indeed  "lie  at  the  bottom  of  a  well," 
and  you  must  look  long  and  steadily  if  you  would  find 
it  to  star  a  diadem  'gainst  your  crown.  But  falsehood 
ever  lies  close  at  hand,  spreading  a  net  for  unwary  feet, 
and,  like  all  easy  things, — all  illusions — murderous  at 
its  base. 

Loyalty  is  the  first-born  Son  of  Truth;  disloyalty 
the  bastard  offspring  of  falsehood. 

159 


ASK  EACH  DAY 

THOU  who  knowest  that  all  life  is  ever  ceaseless 
pulsing  motion! 

Thou  who  knowest  that  the  sun  must  rise  and 
set  each  day,  and  that  everj^  heart-beat  is  in  perfect 
time  and  rhythm! 

Thou  who  knowest  that  the  food  of  yesterday  will 
not  sustain  thy  body  for  the  morrow's  toil! 

Thinkest  thou  the  cyclic  law,  immutable,  will  be 
repealed  for  thee,  in  that  each  day  will  bring  thee  nour- 
ishment for  soul,  unasked  for  and  unsought  by  thee, 
or  asked  amiss? 

Ah,  No!  A  full  supply  of  Christly  bread  awaits 
thine  asking,  but  thou  must  ask  each  day,  and  ask  in 
faith,  or  suffer  in  thy  Soul  as  now  thy  body  suffers 
from  the  lack  of  food  when  thou  dost  not  provide. 


160 


LOOK  WITHIN 

HATH  a  miry  slough  opened  'neath  thy  straying 
feet  and  a  storm  cloud  burst  above  thy  head? 
Then  hold  thee  still  and  look  within. 
There  shalt  thou  find  a  place  of  refuge,  a  point  of 
observation  from  which  thou  mayst  sight  the  distant 
hills  and  the  clear  sky. 

There,  too,  shalt  thou  find  thy  Guide  and  an  open 
path. 


161 


THE  NORTHERN  WINDOWS 


OPEN  the  Xorthern  windows  of  thy  soul,  weak, 
unstahle  mortal. 

Let  in  the  bracing  wind,  the  crystal  genii 
of  the  ice,  that  they  may  rouse  thee  from  the  sodden 
sleep  in  which  the  Southern  winds  have  bound  thee. 

Long  hast  thou  lain  inert  and  pulseless  'neath  the 
spell,  powerless  to  strike  a  blow  in  thy  defense.  Thou 
canst  not  stand  erect  and  wrestle  with  the  Northern 
blasts,  and  so  regain  the  strength  and  courage  needful 
for  thy  battle  with  the  hosts  that  throng  the  underworld. 

Cast  off  the  glamour.  Bare  thy  breast  to  all  the 
icy  winds  that  sweep  the  Storm  King's  realms.  Though 
beaten  to  the  earth  again,  and  yet  again,  yet  shall  thou 
rise  each  time  the  stronger,  and  at  length  thou  shalt 
be  master  of  thvself,  and  therefore  of  thy  fate. 


162 


DARKNESS 

FOR  eons  now  hath  Evil  stolen  guise  of  darkness 
and  dimmed  thine  inner  eye,  till  it  hath  lost  its 
power  to  pierce  those  shadowy  depths,  to  find 
therein  the  rarest  treasures  life  doth  hold. 

Thy  little  ones  now  enter  life  accursed  with  fear 
of  darkness,  as  thou  hast  come  accursed  by  thine  own 
parent's  fear,  and  so  man  doth  perpetuate  the  curse 
from  age  to  age.  And  yet,  all  peace,  all  rest,  Death's 
brightest  face,  all  germination  and  all  growth — the 
holiest  mysteries  of  life — are  held  within  the  folds  of 
darkness. 

When  thou  hast  silenced  all  thy  fears,  and  with 
thine  ear  attuned  to  her  low  murmurings,  then  shalt 
thou  hear  the  softest  melodies,  the  cradle  songs,  of 
the  Great  ^lother  as  she  sings  her  wearied  children  into 
sweetest  sleep  at  setting  of  the  day  that  they  may  gain 
the  strength  to  greet  the  morrow's  sun,  and  in  her  song 
will  be  revealed  the  mysteries  of  Xight  so  long  concealed. 


163 


MAKE  ROOM  FOR  ME 


MAKE  room  for  me,  while  yet  an  hour  remains 
before  the  Sands  of  Time  have  run  their  course 
in  this  dark  Iron  Age! 

Make  room,  ye  bhnd  and  sore  of  heart,  ye  who  are 
smitten  with  the  plagues  of  all  the  centuries  past! 
Make  room,  ye  heedless  revellers  in  transitory  Pleasure 
Halls!  Make  room  all  ye  who  fail  to  see  the  writing 
on  the  wall,  who  read  no  message  in  the  stars  whose 
cyclic  sweeps  are  marking  plain  the  coming  of  my  day! 

A  little  hour  is  left  thee  to  tear  down  the  bars 
'twixt  thee  and  me,  my  child;  to  widen  out  the  spaces 
in  thine  heart  and  make  room,  ere  falls  the  day  I  come 
with  Scales  of  Justice  in  my  hands. 

I,  who  cry  to  thee  must  leave  the  wand  of  mercy 
far  behind  when  weighted  with  the  heavy  scales  I  bear, 
and  in  that  day  the  choice  will  be  no  longer  thine  or 
mine,  but  His  who  sends  me  and  who  rules  alike  o'er 
all. 


164 


THE  SHADOW 

BE  PATIENT  with  the  shadows— thou  cHmber 
of  the  heights — not  only  with  thine  own  but  with 
the  shadows  of  all  others. 

Remember!  thou  seest  only  shadows  with  thy  de- 
ceptive sense  of  sight;  the  real  man,  the  real  woman  is 
hidden  from  thy  view. 

Only  with  thy  soul  sight  canst  thou  glimpse  be- 
yond the  haunting  shadowy  caricature  of  thy  true  Self 
— that  caricature  which,  like  unto  automata,  may  sing 
and  dance  or  sob  and  cry  according  to  the  will  controll- 
ing it,  the  hand  which  holds  the  string. 

So  be  patient  with  thy  shadow  for,  when  its  little 
day  is  ended,  its  purpose  all  fulfilled,  it  will  disappear, 
and  in  its  place  thou  wilt  behold  the  Self — that  Self 
which,  since  the  dawn  of  thy  creation,  has  been  stand- 
ing back  in  the  Silence  of  Eternity,  watching  the  antics 
of  its  shadows  and  "pulling  the  strings." 


165 


ANSWER  ME 


1LED  thee  to  the  gate,  and  fain  would  keep  thy 
hand  and  lead  thee  on  till  thou  hadst  reached  the 

Central  Flame,  and  entered  in,  and  all  thy  dross 
were  purged  away.  Then  couldst  thou  stand  alone, 
freed  from  oMaya's  curse,  in  likeness  unto  Me. 

I  pray  thee  tell  ISIe,  was  the  gate  too  small  for  thy 
bent  back  or  did  the  Flames  affright  thee  so  thou  couldst 
not  see  the  glory  just  beyond?  Or  did  the  demons  of 
the  underworld  lay  hold  on  thee  and  drag  thee  back 
and  loose  thy  hold  on  Me? 

Canst  thou  make  answer  truthfully  when  thou  with 
]Me  hast  entered  the  Great  Silence?  For  so,  mayhap, 
the  path  may  open  once  again,  and  thou  be  stronger 
grown. 

For  know  thee  well,  thou,  who  art  ]Mine  own,  thou 
canst  not  reach  the  Temple  Gate  save  with  My  hand  in 
thine,  for  we  are  one. 


166 


ENDURANCE 


IN  YOUR  last  extremity,  when  heedless  of  all  else 
save  the  ever  deepening,  despairing  cry  of  your 
soul  then  being  smothered  on  your  drawn  hps; 
when  your  whole  being  seems  submerged  in  one  intense 
longing  for  surcease  from  the  anguish  of  the  fitful 
fever  that  has  consumed  your  courage,  your  will,  your 
desires, — then  I  bid  you  strive  to  reach  out  and  hold 
on  to  the  jutting  rock  on  the  bank  of  life's  stream,  the 
rock  we  name  Endurance — the  rock  which  rises  above 
and  beyond  all  others  on  those  banks,  and  upon  which 
is  graven  the  message:  "However  hard,  however  dis- 
tasteful and  exacting  the  temporalities  of  the  day,  with 
the  dawn  of  a  new  day,  a  change  will  come  as  surely 
as  that  new  sun  has  gilded  the  East.  However  dark 
and  swirling  the  waters  of  that  Life  Stream  may  be, 
at  the  close  of  the  day  of  your  despair,  there  must  come 
another  day,  when  the  whispered  'Peace,  be  still!'  will 
quiet  the  waves  and  so  permit  you  to  swim  safely  and 
peacefully  into  the  haven  of  j^our  hopes,  if  you  have 
hold  of  that  one  Invincible  Rock." 


167 


THE  SCOFFER 

HAST  thou  chosen  then?  thou  pitiful  scoffer  at 
Holy  Things!  Chosen  in  Pride  and  Ignorance, 
only  to  awaken  one  day  to  sorrow  unspeakable! 

The  earth  rises  to  greet  the  falling  sun  w4ien  its 
day  is  done,  even  as  the  Soul  rises  to  greet  its  descend- 
ing God  when  its  little  day  is  done.  Night  cometh; 
the  night  when  no  man  may  work;  and  thou,  like  unto 
a  bird,  must  needs  seek  a  resting  place;  but  unlike  the 
bird,  which  seeks  wisely  and  well  the  toji-most  branches 
of  its  chosen  tree,  thou,  the  fruit  of  all  past  ages !  thou, 
built  in  the  image  of  a  God,  taught  by  the  Devas  of 
the  higher  spheres,  thou  buildest  thy  resting  place  on 
the  shifting  sands  of  life's  most  fitful  Ocean;  the  sands 
which  that  Ocean  in  its  wrath  will  surely  overflow,  and 
whose  outgoing  tide  will  bear  thee  swiftly  downward, 
outward  to  extinction.  None  can  give  thee  help  for  thou 
hast  despised  the  rocks  to  which  thy  kind  hath  clung 
since  Time  began  for  man. 

Thou  hast  closed  thine  ears  to  the  voice  of  thy  heart. 

Thou  hast  made  of  the  Gods  a  mock  and  of  their 
messenger  a  butt. 

Thou  hast  chosen  thy  lot  when  thine  was  the  choice 
and  must  abide  therein. 

Thou  hast  bartered  thy  birthright  for  a  bauble  and 
the  })auble  is  broken. 


168 


THE  STRICKEN  SOUL 


RIGHT  joyfully  doth  all  the  heavenly  host  give 
welcome  unto  him  who  strikes  the  load  of  evil 
from  an  over  burdened  soul,  to  save  that  soul 
alive;  for  he  who  hath  been  worsted  in  the  fight  with 
all  the  powers  of  darkness  hath  never  strength  to  free 
himself  unaided. 

And  he  who  lifts  the  burden  from  a  stricken  soul 
by  sacrifice  of  self,  will  find  the  virtues  of  the  Diamond 
Soul  concealed  therein. 

Right  royally  doth  Hell's  low  minions  welcome  him 
who  casts  the  mirrored  image  of  his  own  foul  nature 
o'er  the  one,  who,  trusting  in  the  vaunted  honor,  purity, 
and  power  of  him  he  called  by  all  the  sacred  names 
man  gives  to  friend,  hath  placed  no  shield  before  his 
naked  soul,  for  such  a  demon  in  the  guise  of  man  doth 
lead  the  van  in  those  foul  depths  where  devils  congre- 
gate. 


169 


LET  GO 


LET  Go!  let  go!  ye  fearful,  cowering  souls!  Let 
go  the  form,  half  God,  half  fiend,  which  primitive 
and  mindless  man  made  in  his  own  crude  image, 
and  other  men  less  crude  have  foisted  on  a  throne,  and 
forced  their  fellow  men  to  worship! 

If  thou  wouldst  picture  God  unto  thyself — limit 
the  eternally  limitless  ere  thine  own  soul  can  rest  and 
understand — then  picture  to  thyself  an  image  far 
transcending  human  love  and  wisdom,  power  and  jus- 
tice, nor  be  content  with  less.  A  God  so  pure  that  no 
created  thing  could  sully  it,  so  clean  that  every  un- 
clean thought  of  man  must  die  a-borning  ere  it  reached 
Its  Presence.  A  God  who  could  not  build  a  Hell  for 
human  kind  till  all  the  nascent  fires  had  first  consumed 
His  own  diviner  essence,  and  from  the  residue  thereof 
create  the  great  Redeemer  of  mankind,  One,  Inseparable 
— purifying  by  His  touch  the  vilest  thing  created. 

Only  such  a  God  is  worthy  of  the  reverence  of  the 
Sons  of  God. 

Let  go  of  other  Gods,  and  seek  thy  God  according 
to  thy  strength  and  power  of  search. 


170 


IT 


MAYHAP  you  name  It  Sacrifice,  or  Joy,  or  All- 
fulfilment.     Perchance  you  picture  It  in  mind 
as  that  which  lights  the  Sun,  or  as  the  law  which 
holds  intact  the  whirling  stars  in  space.    Or  you  may 
clothe  It  in  a  garment  pure,  enfolding  man  and  maid, 
when  sound  of  wedding  bell  falls  on  the  ear. 

What'er  the  name  bestowed,  what  form  the  thought 
has  taken,  or  the  fancy  subtly  wrought,  It  always  bears 
the  sign  and  visage  of  the  God-head,  that  radiant  energy, 
creator  and  preserver,  which  man  has  designated 
LOVE.  Love  the  leveler;  the  all  pervading  principle 
of  Life;  the  Light  that  lighteth  every  man. 

The  wielder  of  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth.  The 
Unifier  wise  and  strong,  which  joins  all  worlds,  all  sys- 
tems, sky  and  earth,  the  rootlets  of  the  tiniest  blade  of 
grass,  the  hearts  of  men,  in  one  eternal  band. 

Love  washes  out  all  bitterness,  all  fear  and  hate, 
and  makes  a  place  of  peace  where  once  was  only  strife. 
It  streams  from  every  mother's  eyes  and  fires  the  pride 
in  very  father's  heart. 

It  downward  turns  the  sordid  side  of  toil  and  brings 
to  light  the  side  of  recompense. 

A  mystery  of  mysteries.  A  worker  of  life's  mir- 
acles is  Love,  the  purest  and  most  precious  jewel  in 
God's  treasure  house. 


171 


THE  THREEFOLD  WARNING 

OXCE  at  the  breaking  of  his  vow;  twice,  if  un- 
der exceptionally  great  pressure  the  soul  yields; 
thrice  it  may  be  in  a  last  vital  extremity — may  a 
warning  note  be  struck  from  the  seats  of  the  Mighty, 
to  fall  on  the  ears  of  the  Twice-begotten, — the  Neo- 
phyte,— thenceforward,  the  stillness  of  the  Great  Si- 
lences. 

The  glamour  cast  by  the  Jinn  of  the  underworld, 
once  a  betrayer  of  his  trust,  will  drift  away  like  the 
mist  before  the  sun,  when  the  light  from  the  torch  of 
seminal  Truth,  held  in  the  hand  of  the  Mighty,  is  turned 
upon  it.  Naught  but  glamour  could  turn  the  heart  of 
the  Twice-born  from  the  seat  of  power,  and  send  him 
adrift. 

"Great  is  glamour!" — "Great  is  the  King!"  cry 
the  hapless  victims  of  its  power,  until  the  light  of  Truth 
is  turned  thereon. 


172 


THE  PEACE  OF  GOD 

GATHER  up  in  one  bouquet  as  thou  wouldst 
gather  roses  rare,  the  loves  of  all  the  creatures 
of  all  worlds,  of  man,  of  animal,  of  plant,  of 
whirling  planet,  sun  and  nebulae — the  loves  that  rise 
as  perfumes  to  the  skies.  Add  to  these  all  shades,  and 
combinations  of  all  shades  that  Light  hath  flashed  to 
color.  Then  bind  them  with  the  force  of  everj^  note 
and  tone  which  ever  gushed  from  throat  of  man,  and 
bird,  and  beast,  in  song  and  praise — the  chords  of  that 
sweet  song,  the  morning  stars  have  sung  since  dawn 
of  life,  the  rustle  of  the  winds,  the  moanings  of  the 
waves;  and  if  thou  hast  no  name  for  such  a  marvel, 
thou  mayest  call  it  God.  Then,  if  thou  canst  see  and 
know  the  spirit  of  those  loves,  those  rays  of  color,  per- 
fumes, notes,  and  chords,  and  feel  it  fold  thee  close 
when  one  short  day  of  time  is  closed,  as,  at  the  setting 
of  the  sun,  the  mother  folds  her  little  one  and  hushes 
it  to  sleep  and  only  lays  herself  to  rest  when  the  great 
Bird  of  Life  hath  folded  close  its  wings,  then  and  only 
then,  shalt  thou — the  offspring  of  that  God — feel  and 
know  the  peace  of  God. 


173 


THE  TEMPLE  PLAN 

NO  MAN,  no  host  of  men,  laid  hand  upon  or 
wrought  God's  Temple  plan,  nor  can  a  man  or 
host  of  men  destroy  or  mar  that  plan. 

High  in  the  heavens  unfurled  it  hangs  for  eyes  un- 
clouded, clarified  of  self,  to  see. 

Blest  indeed  is  he,  who  seeing,  builds  upon  the 
screen  of  mind  a  replica  of  that  great  plan  which  is 
eternal  in  the  soul  of  time. 

Thrice  blest  is  he  who  lays  a  stone  upon  the  breast 
of  earth  and  lays  so  true  to  line  that  other  hands  may 
build  upon  it,  that  other  men  may  lay  their  all  upon  it, 
and  so  may  raise  a  simulacrum  of  that  first,  most  wond- 
rous plan  of  all,  each  precious  gem  of  which,  cemented 
by  the  sacrificial  blood  shed  drop  by  drop  from  human 
hearts  will  last  for  aye.  A  Temple  made  by  human 
hands  indeed  shall  man  yet  build;  a  Temple  worthy  of 
the  presence  and  the  peace  of  God. 


174 


THE  GRAVE  OF  SIN 


CAREFULLY,  tenderly,  bury  thou  the  faults  of 
thy  brethren,  for  in  their  graves  will  lie  the  em- 
bryonic forms  which  later  will  rise  regenerated 
as  virtues. 

If  thou  refusest  burial,  and  leavest  them  at  large 
to  gather  substance  from  the  vile  corroding  thoughts 
of  those  who  think  to  kill,  then  wilt  thou  become  in  part 
the  slayer  of  thy  brethren. 

On  the  grave  of  dead  sins  may  rise  the  soul  purified, 
and  if  thou  hast  helped  to  dig  the  grave  which  held 
those  sins,  then  shalt  thou  be  partaker  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  that  soul. 


175 


YE  TOO 

^*TT  riLL  ye,  too,  leave  me,  best  beloved  of  all?" 

y  y  So  cries  the  Christ  as  in  the  garden  of  Geth- 
semane — the  world — again  he  stands  un- 
armed, unterrified,  yet  lonely  with  a  loneliness  no  child 
of  Earth  can  understand. 

"Will  ye,  too,  leave  me.  Ye  whom  I  have  loved  with 
love  surpassing  that  of  earthly  kin?" 

"Will  ye  too  leave  me  to  the  wrath  of  foes,  the 
tiger  claws  of  human  passion,  the  sneers,  contempt, 
betrayal  of  the  mob  which  in  its  ignorance  hath  yielded 
to  the  demon  Hate  which  now  would  lay  me  low?" 

"Will  ye  too  leave  me,  ye  whom  in  your  infancy 
I  fed  and  healed  and  saved  from  foes  unnumbered?" 

"Will  ye  too  leave  me,  going  where  mine  enemies 
have  gone,  to  raise  a  cross  that  I  may  die  upon  for  loving 
ye  too  well?" 


176 


OPPORTUNITY 


GOLDEN  opportunity  comes  once  to  every  man, 
twice  to  a  selfless  man,  but  never  thrice  to  the 
same  man  in  the  same  life-cycle. 
Happy  is  he  who  hath  seized  the  first;  twice  blest 
is  he  who  reaps  the  reward  of  his  first  in  his  second; 
despair  alone  is  the  portion  of  him  who  idly  awaits 
the  coming  of  a  third. 

The  two-leaved  door  of  life's  mysteries  will  shut 
close  on  the  last,  and  will  no  more  open  for  him  until 
they  fly  back  to  let  his  purged  soul  through  at  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  life-cycle. 


177 


THE  DIAMOND  SOUL 

WHAT  boots  it,  the  pain,  the  longing,  the  weari- 
ness of  the  moment — the  single  moment  out  of 
the  Eternities — to  him  who  sees  each  trial  as  a 
gage  of  the  great  battle  he  is  fighting  for  the  crown  of 
self-recognition,  and  who  knows  that  with  every  con- 
quest a  white  stone  is  added  to  the  Crown  of  the  Dia- 
mond Soul. 

The  moment  with  its  burden  will  pass,  but  the 
Diamond  Soul  will  hail  the  dawn  of  every  new  age, 
'till  Time  is  lost  in  Eternity. 


178 


THE  RICH 

OF  ALL  the  poverty  bestead,  this  brutal  age  doth 
hold  in  clanking  chain, — the  naked  savage  in  the 
winter's    storm, — the   skulking    outcast    in   the 
city's  street — none  are  so  poor,  none  so  want-betrayed 
as  he  who  lays  his  all  upon  some  self-made  game,  and 
winning,  LOSES  his  own  soul. 

Of  all  the  rich,  the  powerful  of  earth,— the  mon- 
arch on  his  throne;  the  holder  of  a  thousand  slaves, 
of  lands,  of  mines,  and  golden  store  untold, — none  are 
so  rich,  so  measurelessly  rich  in  all  that  constitutes 
true  wealth,  as  he  who  knows  and  loves  his  fellow  man 
so  well,  the  treasure  chest  of  God's  great  love  hath 
opened  unto  him. 


179 


BIRDS  OF  PREY 

HO — YE  servitors  of  the  Thrice-born!  ye  jinns 
of  the  underworld!  By  the  power  with  which 
ye  are  invested,  by  the  mission  with  which  ye 
are  intrusted,  go  ye  to  the  betrayers  of  our  trust,  the 
foresworn  traitors  of  the  battle's  eve,  the  forked 
tongued  of  the  dark  star-earth,  and  blind  ye  their  eyes 
that  they  may  not  see  the  glory;  hold  ye  their  ears  that 
they  may  not  hear  the  call  of  the  blessed. 

Birds  of  prey  are  they  that  have  befouled  their  own 
nests,  outraged  the  mother  who  bore  them,  and  un- 
covered the  nakedness  of  the  father  who  gave  them 
form.  What  place  is  there  for  such  as  these  in  the 
new  age  and  among  the  true-hearted  ? 

So,  do  ye  to  them  as  ye  are  bidden.  Blind  their 
eyes  and  deafen  their  ears,  lest  they  see  and  hear  that 
which  they  have  not  earned,  and  that  w^iich  is  forfeit 
to  them;  lest  they  take  the  bread  of  life  from  between 
the  lips  of  the  worthy,  and  give  it  unto  the  dogs  of  war 
and  confusion. 


180 


SORROW 


LET  sorrow  do  its  perfect  work  in  thee,  my  child, 
that  so  it  raise  thee  to  the  heights  where  dwell  the 
Gods.  Failing  this,  take  care  lest  from  the  dark 
recesses  of  thine  own  sick  mind  thou  bringest  forth  the 
poison  seething  there  and  spew  it  out  of  thy  mouth, 
to  infect  the  weak. 

When  sorrow  does  not  cleanse  and  purify  the 
heart,  it  sinks  into  some  dark  recess  therein,  inflames 
and  suppurates,  then  reinfects  both  heart  and  mind. 
A  victim  of  such  foul  disease  becomes  as  doth  the  leper, 
a  source  of  dread  and  danger  to  all  who  cross  his  path. 
He  casts  reflections  from  his  sin-sick  soul  on  those 
who  in  compassion  would  minister  to  him,  and  sees 
his  own  depraved,  erupted  likeness  in  their  faces,  as 
he  would  see  it  in  a  mirror.  He  knows  not  love  nor 
pity,  mercy  nor  forgiveness,  and  only  lives  to  blast  or 
kill,  rebellious  to  the  last. 

Then  truly,  sin  and  sorrow  are  but  two  opposing 
poles  of  one  of  life's  deep  mysteries.  The  victim  of  the 
one  may  fall  and  sink  e'en  to  the  lowest  level,  or  he 
may  rise  to  the  greatest  heights  attained  to  by  the 
other. 


181 


THE  HIGHWAY 


LO!  I  stand  and  cry  for  help  to  build  the  highway 
over  which  myriad  footsteps  may  pass— the  foot- 
steps of  the  hosts  so  long  oppressed,  the  little  ones 
now  trodden  under  foot  of  man. 

Even  while  my  cry  rings  forth  thou  turnest  far 
away  thy  gaze  upon  some  short  and  narrow  trail,  and 
sit  thee  down  to  wait  another  call — or  sayest  to  thy- 
self, "the  highway  he  would  build  would  be  too  wide, 
and  far  too  long  for  me  to  tread,  the  paving  stones 
not  such  as  I  would  choose."  "He  plans  no  shade  on 
either  side,  no  mound  where  I  might  sit  me  down  to 
rest.  If  I  could  choose  the  workmen,  lay  the  pave- 
ment, fix  the  compensation  for  the  toil,  and  build  a 
gate  at  either  end  to  bar  mine  enemy — then  would  I 
answer,  and  give  myself  in  service  true." 

Alas!  that  while  thou  heedest  not  my  cry,  my  little 
ones — thy  little  ones — the  poor,  the  halt  and  blind  are 
stumbling,  falling  back,  or  being  thrown  by  press  of 
those  behind. 

No  highway  has  been  made  for  them,  or  thee;  nor 
can  it  be  without  thy  help. 


182 


TRUTH 

WOULDST  thou  know  the  Truth— the  pure,  the 
undefiled, — the  sacred  Truth,  by  means  of 
which  man  is  made  free  and  strong? 

AVouldst  thou  know  the  Truth,  thou  shrinking, 
stricken,  smitten  victim  of  thine  own  untruth,  thou 
bhnd,  and  lame,  and  halt  of  body  or  of  soul,  who  pleads 
for  mercy  to  the  powers  thou  hast  defied? 

Wouldst  thou  NOW  know  the  Truth?  Then  bend 
thine  ear  to  me. 

Like  calls  to  like  throughout  the  bounds  of  Time 
and  space.  From  amoeba  to  man,  and  thence  to  angel 
host  the  call  rings  strong  and  clear,  and  ever  doth  the 
answer  come  in  kind;  then,  how  couldst  thou  behold 
and  know  the  Truth  if  lips  of  thine  are  dank  with  false- 
hood, if  lure  of  mind  and  body  doth  beguile  thy  fellow 
man  to  his  undoing,  if  foul  deceit  and  treachery  to 
friend  and  foe  alike  hath  cast  deep  shadows  o'er  thy 
path  of  life  and  hid  the  face  of  Truth  from  thee? 

Wouldst  thou  NOW  know  the  Truth?— THEN 
THINK  AND  SPEAK  THE  TRUTH  so  far  as 
now  thou  knowest  it  and  Truth  herself,  unclothed,  in 
all  her  fulness,  beauty,  strength,  will  come  to  dwell 
with  thee.  Unabashed,  thine  eyes  shall  seek  her  face, 
and  seeking  there  shalt  find  "the  Peace  that  passeth 
understanding,"  the  key  to  all  the  mysteries  of  life. 


183 


FROM  GOD  TO  MAN 


I  SENT  thee  forth  alone,  unbound,  in  the  morning 
of  thy  life,  into  a  wide,  wide  world  wherein  no  foot 

of  man  had  strayed.  I  sent  thee  forth  with  the 
heart  of  a  child,  and  a  clean  white  mind  wherein  was 
writ  no  record  of  sin  or  shame,  or  prophecy  of  pain. 

I  gave  thee  the  Stars  for  thy  toys,  and  the  Sky 
for  a  place  to  play ;  and  I  bade  thee  grow  'till  thy  head 
o'er-topped  the  highest  arch  of  Heaven. 

I  only  bade  thee  bring  to  me  at  the  close  of  thy 
Day  of  Time  a  pure  mans  heart  and  a  childlike  mind 
in  return  for  my  trust  in  thee. 


184 


THE  HEART  OF  GOD 


THOU    homeless    wanderer    in    trackless    wastes, 
knowest  thou  not  that  the  door  in  the  garden  of 
thy  heart  opens  into  the  garden  of  the  Heart  of 
God,  where  the  flowers  of  Love,  Wisdom,  and  Power 
bud,  blossom  and  bear  fruit  for  thy  plucking?    Open 
that  door  and  enter  into  thine  own  divinity. 

The  Heart  of  God  is  the  container  of  the  divine 
in  all  things  and  creatures,  and  therefore  of  the  divine 
in  thee. 

Only  within  that  Heart  canst  thou  find  thy  true 
self,  and  all  things  that  are  thine  own. 


185 


HOLD  HIGH  THY  TRUST 


FAR  more  doth  it  injure  thee  than  it  doth  thy  friend 
when  thou  hurlest  a  poison  tipped  shaft  of  sus- 
picion at  him. 

A  pure  white  page  of  thine  own  book  of  life  is 
splashed  with  the  black  ooze  of  the  Eighth  Sphere  if 
such  a  shaft  from  thy  hand  doth  hit  thy  friend.  The 
stain  of  that  ooze  is  indelible.  Little  by  little  it  would 
seep  through  every  succeeding  page  of  that  book  upon 
which  the  name  of  thy  friend  was  writ  and  one  day 
thou  wouldst  find  thou  hadst  lost  thy  friend, — thy  most 
priceless  possession. 

Then,  hold  high  thy  trust.  Far  better  is  it  that 
thou  sufferest  injury  through  thy  trust,  if  needs  be, 
than  that  thou  shouldst  betray  thy  friend,  even  to  thine 
own  heart. 


186 


THY  GOLDEN  OPPORTUNITY 


CAST  the  sunlight  of  the  Self  obliquely  on  the 
cares  of  daily  life,  and  they  will  swiftly  turn 
to  golden  opportunities,  e'en  as  now  doth  Dag- 
ma's  beams,  at  close  of  day,  glorify  the  bubbles  on  the 
ocean's  waves. 

The  bubbles  break,  their  glory  vanishes,  but  mem- 
ory of  their  beauty  clings  about  and  satisfies  the  heart, 
when  life  is  sad. 

Even  so  the  cares  will  pass,  but  opportunities  for 
love  and  service  pure  remain  to  raise  the  frailest  of  the 
sons  of  man  to  stature  of  the  Gods. 


187 


GROW  WINGS  AND  FLY  HIGH 

GROW  wings,  my  child,  wings  of  pure  tliought, 
aspiration  and  high  courage;  wings  strong  and 
virile  enough  to  bear  thee  to  the  heights  of  life, 
where  safe  placed  thou  mayest  glimj^se  the  pit  now  hid- 
den from  thy  view  by  murky  clouds. 

The  wind  from  the  heights,  fanned  into  motion  by 
thy  wings,  will  blow  away  the  ashes  from  its  mouth 
and  give  thee  sight  of  lurid  flames  and  hosts  of  de- 
mons spawned  by  Hatred,  Greed  and  Avarice  of  man. 
Full  of  guile  are  they  and  wise  enough  to  seek  and 
find  the  entrance  to  the  soul  which  gave  them  birth 
for  food  and  nourishment  on  which  to  grow  'til  strong 
enough  to  drive  that  soul  from  its  own  place  and  take 
possession  full. 

Then  grow  wings,  my  child,  and  fly  high;  there  is 
naught  between  thee  and  the  stars  but  thine  own  will. 


188 


THE  WORD  ETERNAL 

OMAX  of  many  words,  who  knoweth  not  The 
Word  thy  noise  doth  hide  from  thee;  thou  rev- 
eler within  and  squanderer  of  God's  most  pre- 
cious gift ;  thou  who  f eeleth  no  regret  for  wasted  lesser 
lives,  and  in  thy  mad  extravagance  doth  often  drench 
the  sphere  with  which  thou  art  encompassed  with 
streams  of  energy  so  wide,  so  powerful  for  good  or 
ill,  that  thou  wouldst  stand  abashed  but  for  thj^  igno- 
rance, thy  foolish  exaltation  of  the  shadow  to  the  throne 
of  Wisdom,  thereby  rendering  thee  a  piteous  object 
of  compassion  in  the  eyes  of  those — thine  Elder  Broth- 
ers— who  stand  and  wait  beside  the  inner  gate.  They 
will  not  enter  lest  mankind  be  left  alone,  a  guideless, 
oarless  vessel  on  the  shoreless  ocean  of  eternal  life. 
The  gate  which  they  have  won  the  right  to  open  as 
they  will,  and  pass  to  endless  bliss  and  union  with  the 
God  they  have  long  sought. 

But,  ah,  how  little  understood  by  man,  this  sacri- 
fice divine!  How  oft  doth  puny  man  fling  back  into 
their  faces  all  the  gifts  laid  on  the  sacrificial  fires,  and 
cry,  "I  will  have  none  of  thee,  thou  God  or  Christ,  or 
manikin,  whate'er  thou  art!  I  will  choose  and  go  my 
way  without  thy  guidance  or  the  aid  of  those  who  wor- 
ship such  as  Thou."  Alas!  he  knows  not  that  long 
ere  now  he  had  sunk  to  nothingness  were  it  not  for 
those  he  now  contemns.    He  knows  not  that  he  holds 


189 


THE  WORD  ETERNAL 


within  his  feeble  clasp  the  instrument  to  sound  the  key 
to  all  the  greater  mysteries  now  in  suspension  held 
within  that  shoreless  ocean;  the  key  which  sets  the 
bounds  or  breaks  them,  to  all  forms,  all  lesser  lives. 
But  if  that  key  is  sounded,  he  must  yield  his  lower  life 
in  rite  of  sacrifice;  that  life  of  sense  to  which  he  clings 
tenaciously,  beside  which  other  forms  of  life  seem  cold 
and  dead. 

He  cannot  see  as  yet  that  in  thus  yielding  he  will 
find  himself,  the  Self  he  long  since  lost. 

Only  he  who  gives  his  life  shall  find  and  keep  his 
life  eternally. 


190 


NEW  BIRTHS 

DIVINE  Love, — Life — Law,  brings  to  new  birth 
and  opportunity  each  gladsome  new  spring,  new 
life  for  all  the  myriad  lesser  lives  created  through 
past  cycles.  It  clothes  them  with  new  garments  bright 
and  beautiful,  and  says  to  each  in  turn  with  tender 
touches  warm  and  moist,  "Take  thou  the  gifts  I  bring 
to  thee  and  use  them  for  thy  glory  and  thy  growth." 

Of  all  the  countless  hordes  of  living  things  which 
love  creates,  man  alone  dare  fling  those  gifts  disdain- 
fully aside  and  say  unto  the  giver,  "I  will  not  grant 
myself,  nor  yet  my  fellow-man,  the  glory  of  new  births, 
— the  springtimes  of  recurring  cycles;  for  only  age 
and  death  await  my  kind  when  youth  is  past;"  and 
saying  so  he  binds  his  soul  in  bonds  he  will  not  break, 
and  wearily  plods  on  to  pain  and  dissolution,  blind  to 
the  lessons  Love  hath  showered  on  him,  heedless  to 
the  end. 


191 


WILL  DIVINE 

IF  THOU  wouldst  waken  from  thy  sleep  of  igno- 
rance and  sloth  to  knowledge  of  the  destiny  de- 
creed for  him  who  yields  obedience  in  the  faith, 
then  make  of  thine  own  self  a  channel  wide  and 
straight  that  so  the  Will  of  God — a  living  stream — 
may  flow  direct,  unchallenged  on  its  course.  All  the 
refuse  of  thy  many  lives  that  stream  will  bear  away 
to  be  transmuted  to  its  depths,  and  on  its  breast  will 
float  thy  new-cleansed  bark  of  life,  its  pure  white  sails 
unfurled  to  all  the  world.  Manned  by  courage,  decked 
with  Purpose,  anchored  by  a  AVill  set  in  a  prow  of 
Wisdom,  who  or  what  could  change  the  course  of  such 
a  bark  save  God  and  thee? 


192 


SEEK  THE  CAUSE 


IF  THOU  wouldst  seek  the  primal  cause  of  thine 
unfaith  in  God  or  man  or  thing,   and  seek  that 

cause  with  all  thy  soul  unmindful  of  the  heights 
or  depths  where  it  now  lies,  determined  only  to  accept 
the  truth  when  found,  regardless  of  the  wound  to  self 
that  knowledge  may  inflict,— then  seek  within  thine 
heart  for  time  and  place  and  purpose  when  thou  didst 
injure,  grieve  or  wound  the  God,  the  man,  the  thing 
wherein  thy  faith  now  lieth  dead.  For  as  the  arrow 
flieth  straight  toward  a  mark,  so  flies  the  cause  of 
wrongful  deed  or  thought  straight  to  the  mark  of  its 
effect — thy  present  faithlessness. 

It  may  be  but  a  seed  of  thought  or  word  by  which 
the  wound  was  made,  but  being  sown  and  watered  by 
the  stream  of  circumstances,  its  growth  and  blossom- 
ing, its  fruit  and  seeding,  are  as  sure  as  darkness  after 
light. 

Faith  is  a  tender  plant.  It  will  not  bear  the  storms 
of  Hate,  Suspicion  or  Neglect.  Its  very  tenderness  is 
of  the  Love  and  tenderness  of  God. 


193 


THE  VEIL 


SWIFTLY  turn  thy  face  toward  me,  my  child.  Be 
thou  not  content  with  any  shade  or  fleeting  form 
made  in  my  likeness.  I  have  fixed  m}^  face  within 
thine  heart.  See  to  it  that  thou  tear  away  the  veils  the 
Fates  by  thee  have  woven  'twixt  that  face  and  thee, 
e'en  though  thine  heart  should  bleed  afresh  with  every 
outdrawn  thread. 

When  there  be  naught  'twixt  thee  and  ]\IE,  then 
shalt  thou  know  MY  glory  and  MY  power  for  thine. 

Seek  thou  ]ME,  my  child,  and  not  another  in  my 
guise,  for  I  have  chosen  thee  and  thou  art    Mine. 

From  out  the  figments  of  the  mind,  from  threads 
spun  from  the  woof  of  reason  and  the  warp  of  lower 
will,  man  weaves  veil  after  veil  between  himself  and 
God.  He  names  them  Intellect  and  Purpose,  Self- 
assertion,  Independent-action,  and  never  knows  that 
Love  and  Wisdom  in  their  parturition  pains  are  cry- 
ing out  for  birth  within  his  heart  'till  sore  beset,  choking, 
strangling,  panting  in  their  folds,  he  strips  away  each 
veil  and  frees  his  prisoned  heart. 

Then  alone  doth  he  behold  his  Father's  Face. 


194 


THE  PERFECT  ONE 


WHEX  every  unit  of  mankind  can  vision  to  itself 
the  same  ideal  of  That  which  now  each  one 
doth  form  in  separate  guise  and  name  the 
"Perfect  One,"  then  will  Humanity  approach  its  long 
sought  goal.  Perfection  to  the  mind  of  one  is  imper- 
fection to  the  minds  of  others,  and  many  Gods  of  many 
minds  will  never  satisfy  for  long  the  soul  which  sprang 
full  grown  from  One. 

"The  Perfect  One"  yet  stands  alone,  serene,  su- 
preme, awaiting  the  glad  day  when  man  en  masse  shall 
see  his  beauty,  holiness  and  power,  and  seeing,  shall 
stretch  forth  its  myriad  arms  and  cry,  "Enough!  Now 
have  we  seen  the  end  of  all  travail.  Xow  have  we 
found  ourselves,  in  Thee— The  One  Eternal  Self." 


195 


THE  COMMON  CHORD 


WHEN  Father— Mother— Son,  the  Triune  God 
is  once  more  seated  on  the  long  vacated  throne 
within  the  human  heart,  to  rule  again  that  heart 
in  majesty  and  love,  then  man  will  rise  to  sovereignty 
o'er  all  the  lesser  lives  which  now  obstruct  the  path  to 
power. 

Man  may  not  tear  apart  the  common  Chord  of  C, 
— the  Chord  of  Life,  and  Love,  and  Law,  to  strike  a 
single  tone  of  that  vast  Trinity  alone,  without  sustain- 
ing loss  immeasureable.  For  in  the  spaces  left  between, 
the  minor  tones  will  silent  lie, — those  tones  which  wake 
"the  Angels  of  the  Voice"  to  guard  the  path  to  Power. 


196 


THE  LIGHT  WITHIN 


THOU  who  art  as  a  star  to  some  unselfish,  tender 
heart  which  beats  alone  for  thee,  how  great  thy 
task,  how  sore  thy  punishment  if  thou  dost  fail 
to  sense  within  thyself  that  which  first  called  forth 
adoring  love  within  the  heart  which  set  thee  high  above 
all  else  on  earth. 

He  who  saith  that  love  is  bhnd  doth  utter  a  foul 
travesty  on  truth,  for  love  is  keen  of  vision,  and  love 
hath  seen  a  ray  of  the  divine  in  thee  behind  the  dark- 
ened windows  of  thy  soul,  though  it  be  all  unseen  by 
other  eyes  than  love's. 

Deep  calls  to  deep  alway.  Divinity  doth  seek  Di- 
vinity where  e'er  it  may  be  found.  And  if  some  other 
soul  hath  sought  and  found  a  ray  of  the  Divine  in  thee, 
how  humble  shouldst  thou  be,  how  thankful  that  there 
yet  is  time  to  cleanse  those  darkened  windows  that  the 
light  within  may  seek  its  source  and  in  its  passing  reach 
and  Iiless  the  one  who  first  uncovered  it  and  brighten 
all  the  world  for  thee  and  thine. 


197 


THE  WEB 

WRAPPED  in  Illusion's  web  thou  liest  now  be- 
reft of  power  to  tear  that  web  apart  and 
ghmpse  the  Real — the  Christ — the  Only  Son, 
the  First  Begotten  of  the  One  Unmanifest — the  One 
in  whom  all  Truth,  all  Joy,  all  fruit  of  Sorrow  borne 
in  patience  and  submission,  hath  met  and  blended  in 
the  Kalpas  j^ast,  and  still  must  meet  in  Kalpas  yet  to 
come — the  One  who  stands  supreme  and  dauntless  in 
the  midst  of  that  Illusion  thou  hast  deemed  thyself. 
There  is  but  One.  The  countless  suns  in  space  could 
hold  no  Second,  Third  or  Fourth. 

AVhen  Truth  unveils  herself  all  error,  pain  and 
longing  vanish  as  doth  the  dew  before  the  morning  sun. 
When  man  is  more  than  man  he  stands  revealed  as 
Christ  to  those  who  having  eyes  may  see.  Yet  other 
men  in  ignorance  still  stone  the  man,  unseeing  Christ. 


198 


DEATH 


FR03I  the  conception  and  the  travail  of  the  Gods 
is  born  the  soul  of  man.  Then  shall  the  frag- 
ments of  that  soul  be  scattered  as  the  dust  of 
earth  when  once  the  power  that  sent  it  forth  is  inward 
turned  to  other  spheres. 

Ah!  ye  who  fear  that  Death  may  follow  on  the 
closing  of  the  last  short  chapter  of  the  book  of  Hfe  that 
thou  shalt  read  with  mortal  eyes;  ye  knoweth  naught 
of  life  in  essence  or  its  power  to  search  into  the  fields 
of  space, — the  utmost  reaches  of  the  inner  spheres, — 
to  clothe  itself  in  garb  more  subtle,  tenuous  and  last- 
ing, than  is  the  coarse,  unbeautiful  and  transient  rai- 
ment worn  by  it  in  mortal  guise. 

As  clothes  the  soul  of  rose  or  violet  in  garb  of 
sweetest  perfume  as  its  body  withers,  dies,  so  clothes 
the  soul  of  man  in  sweeter  perfume  still,  arising  from 
the  kindly  deed,  the  sacrifice,  unselfish  service  for  man- 
kind, when  wearied,  worn  with  toil  and  torn  with  pain, 
at  length  it  leaves  its  mortal  form  to  mingle  with  the 
dust  from  which  it  sprang. 


199 


FEAR 


IF  YOU  misuse  the  divine  afflatus  of  genius  by  pros- 
tituting it  for  your  own  selfish  use  or  pleasure  you 

will  be  consumed  in  its  fires.  It  belongs  to  the  whole 
universe,  and  when  in  your  pitiable  self-conceit  you 
would  attempt  to  make  of  it  a  reflector  of  your  own 
egotistic  personality,  it  draws  you  into  its  flames  and 
consumes  you  utterly. 

To  you  as  well  as  to  every  human  being  there  will 
some  day  stalk  a  live  fiend  of  fear  quivering  with  un- 
certainty, and  always  thereafter  it  will  walk  by  your 
side.  You  may  sometimes  close  your  eyes  to  its  grin- 
ning face  and  lull  yourself  into  a  feeling  of  security 
for  a  little  w^hile,  but  deep  down  in  your  soul  you  will 
know  it  is  always  there;  waiting  for  you  to  open  your 
eyes  to  its  presence  again;  waiting  for  some  sign  of 
physical  or  mental  weakness  that  will  render  you  less 
capable  of  self-protection,  in  order  to  spring  forward, 
leer  into  your  face  and  say,  "You  are  my  slave." 

Full  enlightenment  will  never  come  to  mortal  man 
while  he  is  treading  the  path  outlined  by  all  the  mile- 
stones he  has  set  and  marked  with  the  blood  shed  by 
his  victims. 

Only  as  he  enters  that  path  will  satisfaction  come 
to  him.  Only  as  he  leaves  that  path  may  he  behold  the 
radiant  liglit  of  the  sun  of  rigliteousness  wliich  alone 
can  vanquish  the  demons  of  fear. 

Knowing  this,  prepare  to  win  endurance  and  power 
to  walk  in  darkness,  unafraid. 

200 


THE  UNFINISHED 

IF  YOU  but  knew  the  little  seed  you  set  today,  may- 
hap in  carelessness,  in  pride  or  subtlety,  would  grow 

on  through  the  coming  years,  mature  and  bear  its 
fruit  for  you  to  eat  in  sorrow  on  another  day;  if  you 
but  knew  the  tale  which  you  commenced  to  tell  today, 
the  task  which  you  began,  would  not  be  finished  until 
all  their  consequences  faced  you  in  your  hour  of  test 
and  proved  to  be  the  drops  which  ran  the  measure  of 
your  trial  over  on  the  farther  side,  would  you  not  leave 
the  seed  unplanted,  the  tale  untold?  Would  you  not 
hold  your  hand  from  execution? 

Remember!  fulfilment  ever  cometh  otherwhere.  No 
act  or  word  is  finished  on  the  day  it  was  begun  or  spo- 
ken. No  man  hath  ever  lived  so  long  that  he  completed 
any  task  begun;  and  "on  the  path"  the  unfinished  parts 
of  every  thought,  word  and  deed,  in  all  their  latent 
grace,  their  crudeness  or  their  loathsomeness,  will  start 
up  unexpectedly  to  help  or  hinder  as  the  case  may  be. 

Then  would  it  not  be  well  to  carefully  consider 
seed  or  word  or  act  ere  it  hath  passed  forever  from  thy 
keeping? 


201 


THE  RIGHT  TO  SEEK 

WOULDST  thou  seek  the  King  of  the  dazzHng 
face,  the  Master  of  men  and  things?  Then 
take  from  thy  back  the  heavy  load  that  bends 
thy  face  to  the  ground.  Free  the  viscid  mud  from  thy 
bleeding  feet;  change  thy  rotten  staff  for  a  conqueror's 
sword.  Smother  the  moan  that  comes  to  thy  lips; 
change  the  cry  of  pain  to  a  ptean  of  praise. 

Lift  up  thy  head ;  fix  thine  eyes  on  the  sun  and  fight 
for  the  right  to  seek.  The  right  to  seek  on  the  selfsame 
path  that  the  God-men  of  old  have  Avalked;  the  right 
to  die  without  shame  of  men  as  the  ancient  heroes  died : 
The  coward  who  feareth  death  or  life  can  never  walk 
that  path.  Its  thorns  and  bruises,  its  sharpened  rocks, 
pierce  heart  and  feet  alike. 

If  thou  wouldst  seek  aright  and  find  the  object  of 
thy  search,  that  glorious  King  of  the  dazzling  face, 
then  fight  for  the  right  to  seek. 


202 


EMOTION 

THERE  comes  an  hour  in  the  hfe  of  every  awak- 
ened disciple  when  the  cold,  merciless  scalpel  of 
mind  searches  each  emotion,  each  feeling,  to  its 
center  of  being  and  forces  the  Self,  which  stands  be- 
tween the  mentality  and  the  senses,  into  the  position  of 
judge  and  executioner  combined. 

In  seeming  cruelty  it  cuts  away  every  vestige  of 
the  comfortable,  comforting,  excuse-provoking  wrap- 
pings which  have  bound  the  Self,  and  leave  that  Self 
naked  and  inconceivably  desolate  for  the  time  being; 
yet  it  is  only  in  such  hours  that  the  great  destiny,  the 
purpose  of  being,  is  revealed  to  the  individual  Self, 

Not  that  there  is  necessarily  an  underestimation 
of  the  divine  purpose  in  the  creation  of  the  emotions  as 
a  result  of  such  revelation,  but  that  they  may  be  rightly 
placed  and  thenceforth  rightly  used,  instead  of  being 
permitted  to  rule  where  they  should  only  serve,  as  is 
generally  the  case  with  undeveloped  man. 

When  acute  feeling  overwhelms  the  sense  of  right- 
eousness and  justice  in  a  given  instance,  wrong  is  in- 
evitably the  result.  If  the  emotions,  the  feelings,  can 
be  used  to  counteract  the  harsher  acts  of  the  retribution 
which  justice  demands,  thus  preventing  justice  from 
descending  to  cruelty  and  injustice,  they  are  then  in 
their  right  provinces  and  put  to  right  uses. 

203 


THY  CHOICE 


OX  ONE  side,  the  bare  mountain,  wind  swept,  sun 
beaten,  stripped  of  all  verdure,  desolate  to  the 
human  eye,  wearisome  to  the  muscle-tortured 
limbs  of  the  climber,  straining  his  panting  heart  till  it 
bursts  its  sheath  and  pours  forth  its  contents  in  a  liv- 
ing stream  over  the  torn  and  tortured  feet  which  are 
bearing  it  upward. 

On  the  other  side,  the  deeply  wooded  valley  with 
its  trickling  streams,  its  moss  covered  banks,  its  tender 
clinging  vines  and  ravishingly  beautiful  flowers.  A 
valley  wherein  the  tired,  footsore  pilgrim  may  lay  him 
down  to  rest,  and  with  his  eyes  fixed  lingeringly  on  the 
quivering  leaves,  the  soft  shadows  thrown  by  the  ten- 
der glances  of  a  summer  sun,  sink  into  oblivion,  forget- 
ful of  all  the  past,  careless  of  all  that  the  future  may 
bring  to  him. 

Ah!  'tis  a  strong,  brave  and  unselfish  soul  that  can 
withstand  the  charms  of  the  valley,  and  deliberately 
choose  the  bare  mountain  side,  while  yet  unknowing 
what  the  beating  winds  are  bearing  to  him  from  other, 
inner  worlds;  while  yet  unconscious  of  the  hidden  life 
and  glory  in  that  unshaded  sun,  unseeing  the  great 
Angel  of  the  Gates  who,  poised  upon  the  mountain 
top,  awaits  his  last  faint  footfall. 

If  one  might  know;  if  one  might  see  or  even  dream 
of  the  final  results  of  his  unaided,  toilsome  journey  up 


204 


THY  CHOICE 

CONTINUED 

through  the  steep  mountain  and  through  the  world  of 
shadows,  then  'twere  easy  to  make  choice  between  the 
paths.  Then  all  pain  would  pleasure  be,  and  every 
bare,  drear  stretch  of  desert  or  of  mountain  side  within 
his  soul  would  blossom  as  the  rose  and  lily  bloom  in 
sunny  places  in  his  earthly  garden. 

But  in  the  dark,  when  not  a  ray  of  light  from  the 
great  sun  of  life  is  shed  to  point  to  danger  or  to  near- 
ing  death;  when  facing  him  or  at  his  own  right  hand 
are  all  the  delights  and  joys  of  life,  and  soft,  melodious 
voices  plead  with  him  to  give  his  soul  to  pleasure  and 
to  ease.  And  on  the  other  side  is  Silence,  vast,  unbroken 
Silence,  save  when  moan  or  cry  of  pain  falls  on  his 
straining  ear  from  one  hard  pressed;  one  who  travels 
that  same  way;  one  whose  lips  are  crushed  into  the 
earth  on  which  he  lies,  to  still  their  trembling  and  force 
back  the  cry  so  near  escaping  them,  the  cry  that  would 
rob  him  of  strength  to  rise  again  and  press  still  far- 
ther on. 

Ah!  this  would  try  the  mettle  of  the  bravest  soul, 
and  yet,  My  Child,  thou  must  make  thy  choice  and 
make  it  for  all  Time  and  Eternity,  when  thou  art  called 
to  choose.  Then  would  it  not  be  well  for  thee  that  thou 
■  shouldst  even  now  prepare  thyself  for  choice  by  seeking 
for  the  hidden  things  within  thine  heart,  these  things 
which  lie  beneath  the  outer  seemings  of  thy  daily  life, 

205 


THY  CHOICE 

CONTINUED 

thy  stolen  joys,  thy  pains  and  sacrifices;  instead  of 
waiting  for  the  day  when,  unprepared  for  it,  the  call 
shall  come  to  thee  and  thou  shalt  find  thou  hast  no  wis- 
dom for  the  choice,  no  strength  to  follow  where  thy 
soul  would  lead  if  lead  it  might,  because  the  power  of 
choosing  rightly  had  long  been  buried  in  thy  pleasure 
seeking,  or  in  thy  pride,  thine  avarice  or  thine  am- 
bition. 

Mark  well  my  words!  they  will  occur  to  thee  again 
and  yet  again  in  the  days  to  come.  Thou  hast  demanded 
power  of  choice,  demanded  it  in  aspiration,  prayer  and 
act,  and  near  at  hand  that  choice  lies  now  to  thee. 


206 


LOVE'S  OFFICES 

IT  IS  not  by  the  love  it  inspires  that  the  individual 
soul  attains  to  bliss  and  satisfaction,  but  by  the  love 

it  gives  unselfishly,  seeking  no  return.  Love  un- 
desired,  unasked,  is  worthless  in  the  eyes  of  the  beloved 
and  feeds  on  the  heart  it  dwells  within. 

God — Divine  Love — desires  and  asks  for  human 
love,  therefore  prizes  that  love  and  pours  forth  Divine 
love  on  all  creatures,  thus  satisfying  his  own  heart. 

A  woman  may  hate  and  betray  one  of  her  own  sex 
to  gain  the  love  of  man,  while  man  despises  and  betrays 
the  woman  for  love  of  ambition;  thus  the  law  of  com- 
pensation strives  to  strike  a  balance  when  Love  is  de- 
graded in  unworthy  shrines. 

The  cruse  of  the  bereft,— the  widowed  heart,  is 
filled  with  wine  and  oil  of  life — Divine  Love — as  often 
as  its  contents  are  emptied.  Widowed  by  loss  of  hu- 
man love  once  lain  in  the  grave  of  earthly  desire,  that 
heart  is  filled  to  overflowing  with  Divine  Love. 


207 


1 


THE  WORLD  PAIN 


r|^HE  pain  of  the  world  beats  hard  on  the  heart 
a-throb  with  sympathy.  The  answer  to  the  "why" 
of  that  pain  comes  home  to  the  "open-eyed"  with 
every  recurring  stroke  like  unto  the  stroke  of  the  ham- 
mer as  it  falls  on  the  anvil.  The  gnawing  demons  of 
ignorance,  vice  and  greed  first  stupefy  the  mind,  then 
throttle  and  crush  the  body  back  into  the  soil  whence 
it  came,  to  refertilize  that  soil  for  another  crop, — an- 
other race  of  men. 

Again  the  birth  pang,  again  the  childhood,  middle 
life  and  age,  a  repetition  of  the  same  old  story.  Al- 
ways the  world  pain  beats  on  the  tender  heart;  always 
the  eternal  "why?" — the  protest  against  suffering.  Al- 
ways the  strangling,  stifling  rebellion  against  the  im- 
potence, the  powerlessness  of  man  to  compel  his  brother 
man  to  seek  the  God  who  is  ever  close  at  hand,  ever 
waiting  for  the  beast  in  man  to  die  and  the  angel  to 
be  born. 

"Cui  bono?"  cry  the  careless,  the  indifferent;  "let  us 
dance  and  sing  and  leave  the  pain  to  those  who  love  it." 

"How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long?"  moan  the  martyr 
and  the  saint,  "how  long  ere  cometh  Thy  salvation?" 

"More,  more,  give  me  more,"  screams  the  wastrel, 
the  libertine,  in  the  depths  of  his  stag-like  passion  or 
drunken  frenzy;  "more,  more,"  always,  "more." 

From  on  high,  the  Christ  on  the  Cross  where  man 
has  hung  Him,  on  which  He  suffers,  from  which  at 
times  He  smiles,  wafts  down  into  the  aching,  sympa- 
thetic heart  the  incense  of  patient  waiting,  a  breath  of 
the  peace  ever  flowing  from  the  soul  of  pain,  and  that 
heart  grows  still.    And  once  again  the  Christ  smiles. 

208 


THE  NEXT  STEP 

HAVE  you  been  stalled  on  that  last  step  you  took? 
Are  you  now  looking  into  the  gulf  of  despair? 
Does  your  sinking  heart  refuse  you  energy  for 
another  push?  Are  your  eyes  blinded  to  everything 
save  the  bottomless  pit  into  which  you  have  cast  the 
hopes  of  your  young  manhood,  the  finely  wrought  fab- 
ric of  your  girlish  dreams?  Have  you  marked  the  hid- 
eous word,  "failure,"  on  your  life  screen,  believing  the 
end  of  all  things  has  come  for  you? 

Then,  force  that  heavy  heart  to  another  upward 
push;  raise  your  eyes  to  the  step  which  is  just  faintly 
appearing  on  the  horizon  of  your  mind  and  then  raise 
your  foot,  and  lo!  before  you  can  realize  it  that  next 
step  has  been  taken  and  you  are  on  a  wide  stretch  of 
new  country,  the  gulfs  and  pits  have  disappeared,  hopes 
and  dreams  are  in  process  of  realization,  a  new  day 
has  dawned,  a  new  lease  of  life  entered  upon. 

Have  you  thought  of  the  other  men,  the  other  wom- 
en,— those  men  and  women  whom  you  now  look  up  to 
with  unbridled  admiration,  but  whose  hearts  failed  them 
as  yours  has  failed  you; — have  you  thought  of  those 
who  sank  in  utter  helplessness  and  weariness  upon  the 
stones  which  covered  the  last  tread  they  had  gained, 
when  they  thought  of  the  heights  yet  to  climb  ere  they 
could  reach  their  goal  and  which  overwhelmed  and  cast 
them  into  the  gulf  of  despair?    Would  you  know  how 


209 


THE  NEXT  STEP 

CONTINUED 

these  men  and  women  climbed  out  of  that  gulf;  how 
they  conquered  the  demons  who  would  have  pushed 
them  into  the  pit? 

There  was  only  one  way  for  them,  as  there  is  only 
one  way  for  you  to  accomplish  that  great  feat.  It  is 
a  very  simple  way;  just  raise  your  eyes  to  the  sun  and 
jjush  on  to  the  nea't  step.  Do  not  weary  your  heart  and 
brain  by  thinking  of  the  heights  or  the  dejjths;  think 
only  of  the  one  short  step  which  when  gained  may  be 
the  open  sesame  to  a  greater  height. 

Bind  the  word  PERSISTENCE  over  your  fore- 
head, and  the  word  ENDURANCE  over  your  heart, 
and  not  all  the  demons  in  Hades  nor  all  your  enemies 
on  earth  can  prevent  the  final  attainment  of  your  ideal. 

It  is  always  "the  next  step"  of  life's  ladder  that 
daunts  you  when  with  faltering  limbs  and  wearied  brain 
you  have  reached  the  halfway  tread;  not  the  thought 
of  the  perils  behind  or  far  ahead  of  you. 


210 


THE  OBSTRUCTION 


HE  WHO  fails  to  perceive  the  nature  of  the  ob- 
struction which  dams  up  the  mouth  of  any  stream 
of  his  hfe  will  uselessly  waste  all  effort  to  re- 
move the  obstruction,  and  only  give  the  elementary 
forces  of  nature  more  power  to  increase  its  dimensions. 

If  the  huge  logs  of  a  denuded  forest  are  set  free 
on  the  bosom  of  a  stream,  turning  its  currents  and 
blocking  its  mouth,  the  wise  man  will  not  lose  time  in 
using  a  tool  with  which  he  would  remove  a  sandbar 
from  the  same  stream.  He  will  use  the  tool  made  for 
such  a  purpose. 

The  fool  saith  in  his  heart,  I  will  build  a  still  higher 
obstruction  on  the  crest  of  the  lesser  and  so  revenge 
myself  upon  the  stream.  He  takes  no  thought  of  the 
nature  of  the  waters  which  swiftly  and  silently  will  un- 
dermine his  structure  and  carry  both  his  work  and  him- 
self out  to  the  ocean  into  which  they  empty. 


211 


THE  NINE  STEPS 

GOD,  Nature,  Law,  (call  it  what  you  will),  the 
same  beneficent,  all-powerful  energy  that  evolves 
a  God  from  a  stone,  decrees  that  the  spiritual 
eyes  of  the  self-born  shall  be  blinded  for  nine  cycles, 
owing  to  his  desire  for  liberty,  as  the  material  eyes  of 
lower  animals  are  blinded  for  nine  days  after  birth  by 
the  pre-natal  influence  of  the  mother,  and  so  decrees 
in  order  to  restrict  overweening  desire  for  full  liberty 
of  action,  which  is  one  of  the  first  desires  to  manifest 
in  the  animal  as  well  as  in  man. 

As  the  young  animal  is  mercifully  blinded  to  pro- 
tect itself  from  material  dangers,  so  man  is  blinded  to 
the  possible  dangers  that  confront  him  on  the  path  he 
is  climbing,  until  a  fixed  measure  of  the  power  of  en- 
durance is  won  during  each  of  the  minor  cycles, — nine 
steps,  which  lead  to  the  mountain-top, — the  greatest 
height  of  attainment  for  him. 

If  he  should  look  down  into  the  depths  from  some 
midway  step,  he  would  become  so  confused,  so  dizzy 
and  powerless,  that  he  could  not  save  himself.  So  the 
Great  Law  blinds  him  to  the  sheer  fall  from  the  mount- 
ain-top, until  he  has  reached  the  highest  point  and  won 
the  power  to  look  unabashed  and  indifferently  down 
and  over  the  path  he  has  come. 

The  eyes  of  the  Diamond  Soul  must  fall  equally 
upon  the  Light  from  above  and  upon  the  shadow  cast 
by  the  bitumen  which  lines  that  path. 

212 


THE  STREAM  OF  SACRIFICE 


ONLY  he  who  hath  eyes  to  behold  and  a  heart  to 
feel  hath  power  to  see  beneath  the  surface  of 
the  stream  of  sacrifice  which  gushes  from  the 
open  gate  of  the  seven  worlds  and  gathers  volume  and 
momentum  with  every  moan  of  pain  and  sorrow  wrung 
from  human  lips.  That  stream  whose  source  is  in  the 
heart  of  God  and  which  flows  into  the  ocean  of  Infinity. 

The  crest  of  each  smiling  wave  is  dotted  with  the 
bruised  leaves  of  the  Tree  of  Life;  each  leaf  of  that 
tree  of  life  to  crush  in  the  maw  of  the  great  Wheel 
of  Time,  until  there  is  no  longer  semblance  of  form  and 
only  its  aroma  remains  to  sweeten  the  fields  of  Space. 

But  who  can  sound  its  depths  or  bring  therefrom 
^he  treasures  wrought  by  every  sacrificial  rite, — to  be 
the  marriage  portion  of  the  Soul  for  whom  the  bride- 
groom waits, — the  Christ  who  knows  the  end  from  the 
beginning  and  sees  his  blood-stained  face  on  every 
bruised  and  broken  leaf?  He  claims  His  own  when 
Time,  the  great  illusion,  is  no  more. 


213 


THE  NEED  OF  PAIN 

WOULDST  thou  banish  pain  and  sorrow  from 
thy  hfe,  ne'er  to  feel  again  the  stab,  the  crunch, 
the  grind  of  tender  flesh,  the  sick  despair  of 
soul  when  sorrow's  clutch  lays  hold? 

Wouldst  thou  resign  the  right  to  feel  the  tender 
beat  of  angel's  wings  when  Pain  hath  done  its  perfect 
work  ? 

Then  know  that  with  its  passing  from  thy  fleld  of 
life,  if  driven  thence  ])y  desire  and  will,  goes  all  thy 
fitness  for  release. 

Every  line  upon  thy  face  or  heart,  the  graving 
stylus  of  thy  sorrow  and  thy  pain  hath  limned  thereon, 
hath  marked  the  lintel  of  an  oj^en  door  through  which 
thou  hast  the  power  to  pass  to  freedom  if  thou  wilt — 
freedom  from  the  dungeons  which  thou  hast  dug  by 
means  of  broken  law. 


214 


THE  STONES  OF  SACRIFICE 


AS  THY  forbears  of  another  race  and  age  did  bear 
their  aged  and  weak  and  sore  beset  up  to  the 
mountain-top  and  fling  them  to  the  stones  be- 
neath to  perish,  so  now  thou  bearest  others  of  thy  for- 
bears to  the  mountain-top  of  Prayer  and  Hope,  that 
they  may  plead  for  thee, — then  dash  them  to  the  val- 
ley of  despair,  the  floor  of  which  is  covered  with  the 
stones  of  sacrifice  and  grief. 

So  dead  art  thou  to  all  but  love  of  self  thou  dost 
not  see  that  thou  hast  also  fallen  with  thy  victims  and 
nevermore  shalt  rise  'till  every  sacrificial  stone  which 
holds  thy  prey  shall  enter  sentient  life  and  cry  to  Heav- 
en to  help  thee  rise. 

Long,  long  the  teons  are,  and  yet  thou  hast  not 
learned  to  treasure  any  gift  the  gods  have  made,  and 
suffered  sore  in  giving. 

Long,  long  the  ages.  Still  thou  throwest  Love's 
most  precious  gifts  upon  the  stones  of  sacrifice, — 'twixt 
whiles  thou  raisest  hands  to  heaven  and  pleadingly  doth 
beg  for  more  and  greater  gifts. 


215 


THE  VICTOR 

THINK  not  to  gird  the  laurel  leaves  of  earthly 
fame  upon  the  brow  of  him  whom  countless  hosts 
of  light  hail  "Victor"  in  life's  lists.  What  careth 
such  as  he  for  "Things," — for  sense  illusions? 

Alone,  unheralded,  a  neophyte  he  comes  upon  the 
screen  of  time.  Alone  he  lives  and  dies.  Purified  by 
fire,  bereft  of  pride,  alone  he  must  ascend  the  steps 
strewn  with  the  vanquished  and  the  slain  of  long  past 
days. 

Each  hard-fought  vantage  ground  he  wins  gives 
footing  to  another  soul,  who,  hard  beset,  doth  follow 
him.  Each  plunge  into  the  stream  which  gushes  from 
the  fountain  head  doth  shower  with  cleansing  drops 
some  weary  one  too  weak  to  reach  their  source. 

The  homage  of  thine  heart  will  strengthen  him  for 
future  battles  with  the  hostile  dwellers  on  the  path  who 
fain  would  stop  him  on  the  way.  Thy  love  may  give 
him  courage  to  endure  unto  the  end.  For,  know  ye 
now,  he  may  not  lay  his  arms  aside  to  crown  himself 
until  you,  too,  have  reached  the  goal;  a  conqueror  in 
truth. 


216 


YOUR  HOURS 

^^fTTMlE   hours  behind  thee  are  God's  hours,  the 

J[_     liours  before  thee  are  His  secrets.    This  hour 

alone  is  thine.     Waste  not  your  hour."     So 

cries  the  Persian  Muezzin  at  dawn. 

Are  the  hours  behind  thee  hours  of  procrastination 

and  self-indulgence?    If  so,  the  hours  before  thee  will 

be  those  of  sighing  for  lost  opportunity.     Wilt  thou, 

then,  let  the  present  hour  slip  by  in  futile  planning, 

over-confidence  or  indecision? 

Happy  he  who  sees  and  grasps  the  chances  life 

and  effort  bring  to  him  and  weaves  them  in  a  chaplet 

for  his  brow. 


217 


THE  CYCLIC  ROUNDS 

IF  THOU  lovest  thyself,  then  art  thou  slave  to  thy- 
self.   If  thou  lovest  thy  brother,  then  art  thou  slave 

to  thy  brother, — but  through  thy  slavery  to  thy 
brother  shalt  thou  find  release  from  thy  slavery  to  self. 
For,  loving  thy  brother,  thou  lovest  God,  and  only  in 
love  of  God  canst  thou  find  eternal  freedom  from  bond- 
age to  self. 

Out  of  the  Darkness  cometh  Light.  Out  of  Light 
Cometh  Life.  Out  of  Life  cometh  Death.  Out  of  Death 
cometh  Darkness,  and  out  of  Darkness  cometh  Light. 

So,  out  of  slavery  to  self  cometh  freedom  to  thy 
brother.  Out  of  thy  brother's  freedom  cometh  slavery 
to  thee.  Out  of  that  slavery  cometh  eternal  freedom 
for  both  thee  and  thy  brother. 

Life  and  Death,  Darkness  and  Light,  Freedom  and 
Slavery,  Love  and  Hate;  Round  after  Round,  Cycle 
after  Cycle,  even  as  the  spokes  of  a  wheel  fl}^  round 
from  night  unto  day  and  from  day  unto  night. 


218 


THE  UMBILICUS 

THE  path  between  Gods  and  men  is  the  umbilicus 
which  once  connected  God  and  man.  The  navel, 
the  Central  Spiritual  Sun,  is  the  point  of  sepa- 
ration between  Spirit  and  flatter.  The  umbilicus  con- 
nection was  severed  when  the  Elohim  said,  let  us  make 
man  in  our  own  image,  and  having  so  made  man  they 
set  him  down  in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  ^lan  himself  cut 
the  cord  between  him  and  the  great  Father-mother, 
therefore  man  must  reunite  the  two  severed  ends  of  the 
cord.  This  is  the  real  occult  secret  behind  the  use  of 
the  navel  in  concentration  by  some  of  the  ancient  teach- 
ers. Symbolically  it  is  the  lower  end  of  the  Path.  The 
gateway,  so  to  speak;  and  if  the  gateway  is  choked  by 
weeds  (sensuous  desires  and  gratifications),  the  soul 
cannot  pass  through  it  to  reach  the  path  of  true 
knowledge  and  power. 


219 


LIFE'S  DEMAND 

THE  power  of  the  Seventh  sphere  Gods;  the  con- 
centrated rays  of  a  golden  sun  formed  into  disks 
and  marked  with  a  sign.    The  jewels  of  a  star- 
decked  sky;  the  lamps  which  light  a  world  at  dusk;  the 
common  use  of  the  life  streams  which  are  great  enough 
to  whirl  the  planets  in  sj^ace. 

All  these  thou  demandest  of  life,  thou  puny  man 
of  a  single  hour  out  of  the  eternities  of  time. 

"But  the  price  to  be  paid  is  too  high,"  ye  shame- 
facedly whine,  though  all  that  life  demands  of  thee  in 
return  is — respect  for  thy  creators;  recognition  of  the 
rights  of  the  weak;  loving  service  for  thy  kind.  Truly, 
much  may  be  given  for  little. 


220 


THE  CROWN 


SINCE  dawned  the  first  new  day, — the  day  when 
woman  stood  beside  her  mate  and  for  his  glory 
parted  with  the  crown  of  her  supremacy,  has  woman 
sacrificed  her  life,  her  all,  upon  the  altars  raised  by 
man. 

And  always,  to  the  end  of  time,  will  woman  light 
the  fires  and  lay  her  sacrifices  down  to  be  consumed 
upon  those  man-made  altars.  It  is  the  law,  the  law  in- 
voked by  yielding  crown  for  chain.  It  is  her  glory  and 
her  shame.  It  is  the  price  she  pays  for  love,  and  love 
is  the  last  offering  she  lays  on  the  sacrificial  pile. 

But  time  will  cease  and  life  be  lost  in  Love  eternal, 
^lan  and  woman  both — the  two  in  one — shall  wear  the 
crown  of  immortality  when  dawns  the  next  new  day. 


221 


JUST  SO  FAR 


WHEN  man  can  find  no  word  of  good  to  say  of 
fellow-men;  when  sun  and  stars  are  darkened 
to  his  inward  sight  and  all  the  world  seems  but 
a  charnel  house  to  him;  when  to  his  sick  and  morbid 
mind  every  woman  is  a  wanton  and  every  man  a  cheat, 
and  little  children  shrink,  soul-warned,  away  from  him, 
— then  art  thou  justified  in  placing  all  the  earth  'twixt 
him  and  thee.  Deadlier  far  is  he  to  thee  than  any  un- 
tamed beast. 

When  woman,  formed  of  finest  attributes  of  God, 
can  stoop  to  bare  a  sister's  sorrow  or  her  shame  to  sat- 
isfy her  thirst  for  vengeance,  jealousy  or  rage;  when 
envy  or  ambition  blinds  her  inner  eye  and  places  in 
her  breast  a  stone  where  there  should  beat  a  heart ;  when 
passion  overcomes  comi:)assion  and  plots  to  gain  desire 
by  slaying  friendship,  gratitude  and  loyalty  to  kith  and 
kin, — then  climb  the  skies  or  seek  the  ocean's  bed  if  no- 
where else  is  hiding  place  for  thee.  The  very  breath 
thou  drawest  in  such  presence  is  foul  and  tainted.  A 
scorpion's  sting  may  be  withdrawn,  but  naught  can 
draw  the  poison  from  the  wounds  an  evil  woman  makes. 

So  far  as  every  true  and  loving  heart  of  woman- 
kind may  reach  toward  God,  so  far  as  every  Christlike, 
noble  man  may  follow  her, — e'en  just  so  far  doth  every 
faithless,  poison-tainted  woman  fall  toward  the  depths 
of  non-existence,  and  every  demon-driven  man  skulk 
in  her  footsteps. 


THE  FATHER'S  CARE 


LOXG  ere  father,  mother,  wife  or  hushand  folded 
thee  in  love  or  bound  thee  with  the  ties  of  duty, 
I  have  watched  o'er  thee  and  led  thee  through  the 
paths  of  sky  and  underworld ;  oft  waited  on  the  thresh- 
old of  some  den  where  thieves  had  spread  a  net  and 
caught  and  held  thee  until  thy  voice  in  anguish  fell 
upon  my  ear ;  then  plucked  thee  forth  as  man  doth  pluck 
a  brand  from  fire;  oft  snatched  thee  back  from  crater's 
mouth  and  serpent's  fangs,  and  held  thee  safe  against 
my  breast  'til  strength  and  courage  came  again  to  thee. 

Yet  thou  canst  idly  stand  and  see  the  vandal  hand 
tear  down  the  home  that  sheltered  thee  when  homeless, 
the  arms  left  empty  which  had  held  thee  close  when  thou 
wert  lone  and  friendless ;  canst  see  my  body  thrown  into 
the  tiger's  jaws,  or  hold  my  hands  the  while  an  enemy 
doth  snatch  the  poison  from  the  viper's  fangs,  and 
thrust  it  in  the  wounds  made  in  my  flesh  while  guard- 
ing thee. 

Poor,  tried  and  feeble  offspring  of  a  poorer  race! 
There  comes  a  day  when  thou  wilt  learn  of  higher 
Mother-Fatherhood,  of  purer,  stronger  love  than  that 
of  wife  or  husband,  friend  or  lover:  a  claim  upon  your 
fealty  far  more  exacting  than  any  claim  now  made  on 
thee. 

When  comes  that  day,  then  thou  wilt  see  that  thou 
wert  false  to  all  that  held  thy  love,  by  being  false  to 
love's  own  self,  and  must  retrace  thy  steps  if  thou 
wouldst  find  the  long  lost  path  which  leads  to  the  abode 
of  Love, — the  place  of  Recognition,  Service,  and  Di- 
vine Compassion. 


223 


THE  LOAD 


NOT  all  the  Devas  of  the  upper  worlds  can  force 
the  child  of  the  underworlds  against  its  will  to 
face  the  Asuras  at  the  gates  of  the  path. 
If  he  be  frighted  at  the  flames,  swept  to  one  side 
by  the  waters,  if  he  make  answer,  "'Tis  my  brother's 
sin;  I  am  guiltless,"  when  the  thunders  of  the  voice 
proclaim  his  own  offense,  then  surely  will  the  flames 
enwrap  him,  the  waters  overwhelm  him. 

Only  through  that  brother  shall  the  gate  again  be 
opened  to  him,  for  he  has  not  borne  the  burden  taken 
up  by  him  when  both  he  and  his  brother  lay  in  the 
womb  of  duration;  in  leaving  that  brother  to  bear  it 
alone  he  has  shifted  the  load  onto  his  own  shoulders. 


224 


WOULDST  THOU  WIN? 

IS  THINE  own  heart  so  pure  and  free  from  stain 
that  thy  brother's  sin  looms  darkly  on  its  white  sur- 
face when  reflected  thereon?    If  so    thou  thinkest, 
then  art  thou  under  Maya's  sway. 

Wouldst  thou  win  to  mastery?  Then  write  thy 
brother's  offenses  in  water  and  thine  own  in  fire.  The 
water  will  extinguish  the  fire,  the  fire  will  raise  the 
water  to  vapor,  and  both  thine  own  offenses  and  thy 
brother's  also  will  disappear. 


225 


THE  FEAST 

MAX'S  usurpation  of  the  prerogatives  of  God, 
and  indifference  to  his  own  when  they  are  re- 
lated to  his  kinship  with  that  of  God,  holds  him 
to  a  steady  diet  of  the  husks  of  life  which  are  only  fit 
for  swine. 

He  lifts  up  his  eyes  to  his  Father  from  afar,  but 
makes  no  self-conscious  effort  to  cross  the  barrier  he 
himself  has  created  between  his  Father  and  himself  or 
to  reach  the  table  on  which  the  holy  Feast  is  spread 
for  him  alone,  awaiting  his  coming,  until,  driven  from 
his  retreat  by  the  very  swine  he  has  robbed,  he  stands 
face  to  face  with  utter  starvation. 

Then,  naked  and  ashamed,  he  makes  one  last  su- 
])reme  effort  to  tear  down  the  barrier  and  reach  the 
heavenly  food,  and  learns  that  there  is  no  barrier:  that 
it  was  long  since  raised  by  the  hand  of  God  and  all 
tliat  was  re(]uired  of  him  was  to  seat  himself  on  the 
divan  and  dip  his  hand  in  the  dish. 


226 


THY  BONDS 


THINKEST  thou  to  forge  a  chain  to  bind  thy 
brother's  hfe  to  thine  and  yet  go  free  from  any 
act  of  his? 

If  so,  a  sad  surprise  awaits  thee  at  the  end.  Every 
act  of  man  with  good  or  ill  intent,  doth  form  a  link  in 
the  long  chain  of  consequences  which  binds  the  human 
race  in  bonds  of  Time. 

Not  e'en  a  shadow  cast  by  thee  de^^arts  for  aye. 
And  if  it  falls  athwart  the  vision  of  thy  brother  it  will 
return  in  some  far  distant  day  to  cloud  thy  vision,  as 
thou  didst  cloud  thy  })rother's. 

And  if  thou  bind  thy  brother  purposely  to  thee 
with  ill  intent,  no  further  act  of  thine  can  loose  the 
bond.  Unseen,  unfelt  by  thee,  it  may  remain  for  long, 
but  one  day  fate  will  draw  it  taut,  and  struggle  as  thou 
wilt,  thou  canst  not  loose  thyself.  The  bond  alone  may 
break  the  chain  with  which  he  hath  been  ])ound. 


227 


YOUR  RESPONSIBILITY 


THERE  is  some  one  person  next  in  line  to  you 
upon  the  evolutionary  ladder  on  which  you  stand, 
who  is  waiting  for  you  to  give  the  hand  which  will 
lift  him  to  your  side,  and  you  will  be  held  accountable 
to  some  degree  if  he  fall  from  his  present  position  to  a 
low^er  round. 

Knowing  this,  how  dare  you  rest  supinely  on  your 
supporting  step  and  make  no  effort  to  bring  that  one 
into  the  Temple  light?  No  amount  of  reason  or  logic 
will  help  you  to  locate  that  one.  You  will  not  know 
who  and  what  he  is  until  he  stands  by  your  side  in 
some  initiation. 

The  law  which  controls  the  influence  lines  also  gov- 
erns nature's  method  of  combination  and  correlation  of 
minuti^  and  mass.  Your  voice  maj^  not  reach  the  ears 
and  affect  the  conduct  of  many  people  at  once,  but  it 
will  reach  the  ears  and  turn  the  heart  of  the  one  who  is 
waiting,  if  you  voice  the  message  you  yourself  have 
received  from  some  agent  of  the  Great  White  Lodge. 


228 


LIFE  KNOTS 


IF  THOU  wouldst  attain  to  Wisdom's  heights,  then 
turn  thy  face  toward  that  Sun  whose  rays  are  fas- 
tened in  the  hearts  of  Hving  things,  as  knots  are 
fastened  at  the  end  of  threads,  which  serve  to  make  or 
mend  the  garments  worn  by  man. 

No  cunning  finger  ever  can  unloose  the  knots  which 
God  has  tied.  The  garment  made  of  flesh  may  fall 
away,  but  ever  doth  the  knot  remain  to  fasten  newer, 
fresher  garments  as  they  form  in  turn.  For  in  the 
knots  so  tied  doth  lie  the  root  from  which  all  sentient 
life  proceeds. 


229 


FULFILMENT  BY  FAITH 


WHEN  Faith  waits  patiently  on  Fulfilment, 
Fulfilment  well  justifies  Faith.  Douht  madly 
rushes  unbelief  and  unbelief  kills  Faith  a-born- 
ing. 

Believe  in  your  God,  yourself,  your  ideals,  and  live 
forever.  Doubt  your  God,  yourself,  your  ideals,  and 
die  to  Truth. 

Doubt  arrogantly  turns  it  back  on  Faith  and  loses 
itself  in  a  maelstrom  of  despair.  Truth  glimpses  a  star, 
aims  direct  and  reaches  that  star. 

Xo  man  can  believe  a  lie,  though  he  may  deceive 
himself  as  to  his  belief  in  that  lie. 

Belief  lives  only  in  Truth.  Faith  and  Belief  are 
lovers;  Doubt  and  Unbelief  are  rivals  for  the  hand  of 
Despair. 


230 


MY  GIFTS  TO  THEE 

I  GAVE  thee  thy  heart's  desire,  brought  from  afar 
and  laid  at  thy  door;  I  gave  thee  wine  and  oil  of 
spiritual  life  to  build  up  the  waste  and  barren  places 
of  thy  Soul  that  it  might  live  and  bring  thee  compen- 
sation for  the  past. 

Unmindful  of  the  opportunity  to  share  whate'er  of 
value  came  to  thee  in  recompense,  as  ever  hath  been 
done  by  all  Earth's  tried  and  tested  ones,  thou,  having 
eaten  of  the  fruit  now  fling  the  refuse  to  the  skies. 


231 


CAUSE  AND  EFFECT 


CAN  man  enter  again  his  mother's  womb,  to  be 
born  again  into  physical  life?     Can  man  enter 
the  womb  of  spiritual  life  for  a  new  birth,  if  he 
hath  destroyed  the  fertility  of  the  seed  from  which  that 
life  unfolds? 

Neither  ignorance  nor  carnal  desire  can  alter  the 
law  of  cause  and  effect.  He  who  throws  away  his  sus- 
tenance of  body  or  of  soul  must  starve  and  die.  He 
who  conserves  and  cherishes  that  sustenance  hath  al- 
ways a  full  supply  which,  like  the  widow's  cruse,  the 
gods  replenish  day  by  day. 


232 


THE  GREAT  MOMENT 


TO  THE  soul  who  is  capable  of  a  great  love  there 
comes  a  moment  of  illumination  when  the  veil 
between  spirit  and  matter  is  lifted  and  it  catches 
a  glimpse  of  the  tragedy  which  lies  beyond  the  present 
time  and  dimly  feels  its  approach. 

Every  great  love  bears  the  seed  of  a  deep  tragedy. 
It  is  seldom  understood  or  appreciated  by  its  recipient 
and  seldom  returned. 

In  that  moment  of  illumination  the  soul  knows  be- 
yond any  shadow  of  doubt  that  the  great  tragedy  of 
vicarious  atonement,  of  sacrifice  beyond  power  of  ex- 
pression, awaits  it  also  as  it  has  awaited  all  other  souls 
at  some  period  of  their  manifestation.  But  the  veil 
falls  quickly,  the  shadows  flee,  and  again  the  great  light 
sheds  its  beams  over  all  common  things,  dazzling  the 
intellect  and  magically  endowing  the  beloved  one  with 
the  attributes  of  a  god. 

And  so  the  soul  passes  on  to  its  Gethsemane  and 
Golgotha  to  pay  the  price  demanded  by  Divine  Law. 


233 


COME 

A  VOICE  said  "Come!"  and  out  from  the  dark- 
ness of  unbelief,  the  shadow  of  death,  I  passed  to 
glory  like  unto  the  sun,  to  the  peace  of  the  de- 
livered. But  I  passed  through  waters  wild  and  deep, 
I  was  beset  by  foes  on  every  side;  I  stumbled,  fell  and 
rose  again,  still  pressing  on.  Far  away  upon  the  path 
the  whispered  "come"  echoed  and  re-echoed.  When  I 
stumbled  or  fell,  its  power  surrounded,  held  and  raised 
me  to  my  feet ;  when  the  shadows  deepened  and  I  could 
not  see  my  way,  in  fiery  letters  just  before  my  face  I 
saw  the  word  "come,"  and  followed  on.  The  end  is  yet 
far  off,  but  fear  has  gone,  and  ever  and  anon  I  hear  a 
whisper  soft  and  clear  which  bids  me  "come,"  and 
though  I  weary  and  grow  exceeding  faint  I  cannot  stop, 
I  must  go  on  until  I  no  more  hear  that  word,  for  then 
I  shall  have  reached  its  source — my  Home. 


234 


THE  BEAUTIFUL  MESSAGE 


A  PURE  soul  stood  on  the  sliore  of  the  Ocean  of 
^Manifested   Life   waiting  the   final   plunge   tliat 
must  hring  oblivion  of  past  glory, — yet  thrilling 
with  ra^jture  as  memory  recalled  the  message  of  glad 
tidings  of  which  it  was  to  be  the  bearer  to  the  prisoned 
souls  on  the  far  distant  shore. 

The  Lord  of  Life  and  Death  drew  near — and  as 
the  Soul  lifted  its  arms  for  the  last  plunge,  He  threw 
over  it  a  stainless  mantle  of  purity.  As  the  waves  of 
that  ocean  rolled  back,  and  the  Soul  finally  stood  on 
the  nether  shore,  the  shimmering  light  of  that  radiant 
garment  caught  the  eyes  of  the  waiting  souls,  and  the 
contrast  between  it  and  the  vile  robes  in  which  they 
w^ere  bound,  maddened  them.  Jealousy, — cruel,  deadly, 
as  the  poisoned  fangs  of  a  serpent,  awoke  in  their  hearts ; 
they  could  not  wrest  the  garment  from  its  wearer,  but 
one  by  one  they  stooped  and  gathered  handful  after 
handful  of  slimy  mud,  and  with  vengeful  spite  hurled 
it  over  the  garment,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  their 
own  hands  and  robes  had  become  soiled  and  filthy  from 
contact  wnth  that  mud. 

Hounded  on  from  one  spot  to  another,  its  wings 
broken,  its  garment  in  shreds,  and  vile  past  telling, — 
striving  to  give  the  beautiful  message  it  bore  to  those 
whose  shrieks  of  laughter  and  despair  drowned  the 
words  ere  they  passed  the  trembling  lips,  the  one  white 


235 


THE  BEAUTIFUL  MESSAGE 

CONTINUED 

soul  crept  back  to  the  waters  whence  it  came,  and  as 
it  sank  on  the  sands,  the  same  wave  that  brought  it 
thither  hfted  it  up  and  bore  it  back  to  the  Lord  of  Life 
and  Death.  Lifting  it  to  His  breast,  the  Lord  said — 
"Thou,  water,  which  hast  cleansed  my  garment,  take 
back  the  mud  thou  bearest,  to  that  nether  shore.  The 
prisoned  souls  shall  be  drenched  with  that  mud  until 
such  time  as  they  shall  have  caught  my  message  with 
their  own  ears." 


236 


HIS  BIRTHRIGHT 

POOR  soul-starved,  heart-liungry  children,  huddled 
as  sheep  in  a  pasture,  in  some  corner  of  a  great 
city  where  never  a  glimpse  of  Nature's  beautiful 
face  meets  your  eye,  where  never  a  sound  of  the  grand 
undertones  of  the  billow-tossed  ocean  falls  upon  your 
ear. 

The  silence  and  peace  of  our  brooding  mother  Night 
throws  open  to  longing  eyes,  dim  visions  of  spangled 
folds  of  that  sable  garment  in  which  she  was  clothed  her- 
self while  she  whispers  to  the  restless,  storm  tossed 
soul,  "Be  still,  my  child,  and  learn  of  me;  lay  your 
weary  head  burdened  with  care,  maddened  by  pain, 
upon  my  breast,  while  I  murmur  the  lullaby  which  has 
hushed  you  to  sleep  again  and  again  in  the  long  past 
ages." 

Those  strange,  cold  stars  with  their  shadowy  gleams 
of  light  thrill  us  b}^  their  mystery ;  they  seem  as  the  eyes 
of  the  Infinite  searching  our  hearts  for  hidden  evils,  yet 
calming,  steadying,  strengthening  every  good  impulse 
and  bringing  us  into  tune  with  the  great  major  chord 
of  Eternal  Love; — imparting  a  sense  of  courage  and 
hope  that  not  even  the  carking  care  of  the  work-a-day 
world  can  rob  us  of  entirely. 

Sometimes  our  agony  is  too  deep,  too  real,  for 
words;  we  have  reached  our  Golgotha  and  can  only 
lie  on  that  great  Mother-heart  and  moan,  while  she 


237 


HIS  BIRTH  RIGHT 

CONTINUED 

presses  her  lingers  upon  our  eyes  and  gradually  draws 
us  into  a  presence  far  greater  than  her  own — a  Presence, 
the  light  of  which  floods  us  with  glory  unspeakable — a 
glory  in  which  we  are  finally  lost  as  is  a  drop  of  water 
in  an  ocean,  and  only  awaken  to  know  that  our  agony 
and  pain  were  angels  sent  to  bring  us  eternal  blessed- 
ness. 

O  could  you  but  realize  what  you  lose  when  you 
permit  the  j^resent  mad  rush  for  city  life  to  engulf  you, 
soul  and  body,  and  set  you  down  where  the  clang  and 
clatter  of  machinery,  the  babel  of  human  noises,  allow 
you  never  a  moment  for  the  silence  which  is  as  neces- 
sary to  the  soul  as  is  food  to  the  body. 

Surely  there  is  a  great  undercurrent  of  wisdom  in 
the  words  now  finding  an  echo  in  the  hearts  of  the  peo- 
ple, in  the  words,  "Back  to  the  soil;"  fit  refrain  for 
an  army  of  toilers  returning  to  claim  their  own.  For 
when  mankind  deserts  the  land  to  crowd  into  the  cities, 
it  gives  up  its  birth-right  for  the  husks  of  life. 


238 


LOVE  IS  GOD 

IF  THE  lips,  now  sealed  by  the  xVngel  of  Death, 
might  unclose  and  permit  the  spirit  now  hovering 

near  to  speak  in  earthly  tones,  it  would  say, — "Be- 
hold, I  that  was  dead  am  alive  forevermore.  The  gates 
of  Hell  are  closed  behind  me,  and  I  have  entered  into 
mine  inheritance.    Wherefore  do  ye  weep  for  me? 

"There  is  no  death,  my  beloved,  nothing  but  life, 
life,  life,  everywhere  and  forever. 

"What  matters  it  that  ye  lay  down  my  body,  a 
wornout  shell,  an  empty  chrysalis,  that  so  my  fliglit  be 
not  impeded?  For  I  go  to  the  place  prepared  for  me, 
radiant  with  joy,  full  of  that  peace  that  ])asseth  under- 
standing. Be  patient  with  me  yet  awhile  that  I  leave 
thee  in  loneliness,  and  let  not  the  delusion  of  space  blind 
thee  to  the  truth  that  thou  art  with  me,  though  thou 
knowest  it  not, — for  nothing  can  separate  souls  bound 
by  love.  They  are  entwined  by  the  force  of  that  love 
with  bonds  far  stronger  than  those  of  earth, — for  Love 
is  God.  "Blessed  are  ye  that  mourn,  for  ye  shall  be 
comforted."  Lift  up  your  gates,  and  the  King  of  Glory 
shall  come  in!"  Those  gates  of  the  body  which  close 
the  portals  of  the  soul  before  all  weary  eyes,  eyes  that 
will  not  unclose  for  the  King  of  Glory  to  enter  until 
their  lids  are  raised  by  the  ]iower  of  intuition,  or  beaten 
down  by  the  Angel  of  Death.  "Show  me  a  dead  thing," 
said  a  Sage,  "and  I  will  destroy  the  whole  doctrine  of 
immortality.'  Is  this  a  vain  boast,  or  a  promise  of 
eternal  joy? 

239 


COME  FORTH  THOU  CHRIST 

CO^IE  forth,  O  thou  who  livest  as  does  Thought 
in  the  eternal  heart  of  God ; — thou  Christ  of  God, 
come  forth  to  bless  this  Star  we  call  our  home, 
for  yet  thou  art  not  manifest  to  holden  human  eyes. 

My  spirit  broods  in  ecstasy  of  pain  o'er  that  ideal 
of  Thee  which  is  my  life,  my  hope,  my  all. 

Springing  from  the  fathomless,  the  mystery  of  life 
and  love,  again  shalt  Thou  in  power  and  glory  stand 
upon  the  threshold  of  this  world  and  beckon  to  Thee. 

And  quickly  will  I  kneel  before  Thy  Grace,  Thy 
Truth  and  Beauty,  beseeching  that  Thy  hand  may  for 
a  moment  rest  on  my  bowed  head  to  still  the  longing  of 
my  soul,  which,  smothered  in  agony  of  yearning  love, 
can  now  but  beat  its  wrings  against  this  earthly  cage, 
unable  to  escape  or  patiently  endure. 

Through  all  the  world  my  weary  feet  have  strayed 
— on  highest  mountain  top,  in  vale  and  in  clefts  of  rock, 
in  deepest  caverns  underneath  the  earth,  searching,  ever 
searching,  for  a  clue  to  guide  me  unto  Thee — until  I 
have  grown  old  and  feeble  in  the  quest.  But  God  can 
never  die,  and  Thou  art  God  and  God  is  Love,  and  in 
the  deepest  recesses  of  soul  I  feel  that  I  shall  yet  be- 
hold Thee  with  mine  eyes.  For  love  like  mine  must 
meet  response  from  I^ove  like  Thine,  and  Thou  shalt  bid 
this  thought  of  mine  w^hich  dwelleth  yet  within  Thy  heart 
— this  great  ideal  of  all  the  human  race — to  leave  its  hid- 
ing for  a  space  and  come  to  us,  to  all  that  wait  and  pray. 

240 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

SOUL  of  my  soul,  do  you  hear  it?  Listen!  Do 
you  hear  the  mad  music  of  clarion  and  flute,  of 
fife  and  drum — the  pounding  on  pavement  of 
marching  steps — the  cry,  "To  Arms!"  through  the  city 
streets — the  bugle-call  through  by-way  and  lane?  Do 
you  hear  the  wild  gallop  of  horses'  hoofs,  the  shriek  of 
the  smitten,  the  dirges  of  death? 

Do  you  hear  the  mad  revel  of  wine  and  song,  the 
tripping  and  sliding  of  dancing  feet — the  maniacal 
screams  of  frenzied  men?  Do  you  hear  them,  those 
echoes  of  hell  on  earth? 

Do  you  hear  it,  soul  of  my  soul — hear  the  sweet 
song  of  the  Bird  of  Life,  as  it  swells  and  soars,  and 
pierces  that  loathsome  night,  calling  you,  thrilling,  sad- 
dening, yet  gladdening  you;  inciting  to  joy  so  near 
akin  to  pain — the  ever  growing  mystery  appalls  you! 
Do  you  hear  it  cleave  the  vibrant  waves  of  hell's  do- 
main, as  the  arms  of  a  strong  man  cleave  the  waters 
engulfing  him,  flecking  with  radiant  light  all  hearts  at- 
tuned to  its  low  measure,  as  foam  from  the  ocean  flecks 
the  open  face  of  day? 

All  the  waters  of  all  the  earths  cannot  drown  it:  all 
the  fires  of  all  the  hells  cannot  separate  it  from  you. 
You  alone  of  all  earth's  myriad  creatures  can  muffle 
that  sweet  song,  can  interpose  a  single  obstacle  to  its 
passage  to  and  from  the  ears  of  your  own  heart. 

241 


THE  MESSAGE 

A  TERRIFIC  crash  of  thunder  rent  the  midnight 
air,  sending  great  waves  of  sound  reverberating 
from  one  end  of  the  heavens  to  the  other.  A  great 
pulsating  globe  of  fire,  much  like  a  sun,  appeared  in 
the  far  distance.  From  it,  in  every  direction,  were 
darting  broad,  zigzag  streams  of  lightning,  which 
seemed  to  pierce  the  very  ends  of  the  universe.  From 
the  globe  of  fire  there  issued  a  voice  that  at  first  sounded 
like  the  low  mutterings  of  thunder,  but  on  closely 
listening  could  be  distinguished  in  slow,  deep,  penetrat- 
ing tones  the  words:  "Write  to  the  still-born  sons  of 
Earth."    Then  came  the  message  given  below: 

"Dwarfed  are  ye,  ye  sons  of  Earth  who  once  were 
great  enough  to  tread  the  burning  sands  of  Teapi-nui, 
and  with  your  own  bared  hands  pile  up  the  statues  of 
the  Gods, — ye  whose  minds  conceived  the  Holy  Temples 
lying  now  full  forty  fathoms  'neath  old  ocean's  waves. 

Ah,  but  ye  have  fallen  low,  and  when  mine  eyes 
})ehold  yoiu'  ])uny  forms,  your  sordid  minds,  I  see  how 
great  the  fall,  how  slow  the  rising  from  the  depths  of 
your  disgrace  and  punishment. 

Can  nothing  rouse  ye  from  your  sleep  to  knowledge 
of  the  truth  that  ye  are  Sons  of  God,  as  well  as  earthen 
vessels?  Must  hoary  cycle  tread  upon  the  heels  of  cycles 
past,  and  ye  lie  still  and  make  no  move  to  climb  the 
heights  where  once  ye  had  a  dwelling  place  with  Devas 
fair  and  wise? 

242 


THE  MESSAGE 

CONTINUED 

Will  neither  sad  entreaty  nor  scornful  lashings  of  a 
pointed  tongue  goad  you  on  to  grasp  once  more  the 
heritage  which  alien  hands  have  wrested  from  your 
grasp  ? 

Day  crieth  unto  Day  and  Night  moans  unto  Night, 
and  ye  lie  wrapt  in  Lethe's  false  embrace,  or  for  a 
golden  chain,  a  Ruby  rare  and  precious  to  your  clouded 
sight,  relinquish  all  the  power  and  wealth  which  lieth 
now  unclaimed  amidst  the  treasures  of  your  Father's 
house. 

Waken!  Waken!  Waken!  Slothful  child  of  earth, 
stretch  out  thy  palsied  arm  and  strive  to  grasp  the  hand 
outstretched  to  thee.  Straighten  the  limbs  now  stiff 
and  curled  beneath  thy  form,  and  strive  to  reach  the 
path  which  leads  to  the  great  Eye  upon  the  Mountain 
top ;  for  night  is  coming  on,  in  which  no  man  may  work, 
and  if  thou  canst  not  work,  there  is  no  place  for  thee 
upon  the  earth  where  Service  is  the  law  of  life,  the  chief- 
est  blessing  left  to  fallen  man,  the  Pledge  of  final  union 
'twixt  thy  God  and  thee,  which  thou  hast  bartered  now 
and  must  reclaim  ere  thou  canst  Wisdom  find  and 
know." 


243 


THE  TASK 


MY  CHILD — If  thou  wouldst  bear  the  colors  of 
the  Lodge,  then  stand  alone.  Search  thine  own 
heart,  lay  bare  its  hidden  motives,  follow  thou 
the  dictates  of  its  will.  Take  care  lest  any  thing  or 
creature  bind  thy  course  of  action,  j^et  make  thou  sure 
that  thing  or  creature  occupies  its  rightful  place  in  all 
thy  plans  where  it  is  equally  concerned  with  thee. 

No  human  soul  hath  earned  the  right  to  bind  an- 
other soul,  yet  every  soul  must  bind  itself  to  serve  the 
soul  that  rightfully  demands  its  help. 

We  fear  to  trust  the  guiding  power  of  Love — the 
God  within — lest  being  haled  before  the  Judgment 
seat,  we  stand  rebuked  for  failure  to  perform  aright 
the  task  imposed  by  Love,  and  in  that  failure  sink  the 
right  to  say — "I  only  did  what  thou  commandedst  me." 


244 


THE  LITTLE  THINGS 

WOULDST  thou  know  the  secret  of  a  happy  life? 
Then  come  aside  with  me  into  the  great  white 
Silence  and  I  will  show  thee  strange  things. 
Strange  to  thee  in  that  thou  hast  passed  them  by  openly 
day  by  day  and  year  by  year,  yet  hast  never  paused 
to  look  upon  their  faces.  When  thou  hast  come  anigh 
them  thou  hast  trampled  them  under  foot,  in  ignorance 
of  their  worth,  or  covered  them  with  refuse.  They  did 
not  appear  seemly  in  thine  eyes,  for  truly  their  forms 
were  unsightly,  their  eyes  cast  down,  and  their  tiny 
bodies,  like  stinging  insects,  came  between  thee  and 
the  light  of  the  sun.  Thou  couldst  not  see  that  they 
brought  thee  rare  treasure,  great  opportunities,  to  add 
to  thy  store  of  riches  till  thou  shouldst  become  of  all 
men  most  to  be  envied. 

The  small  worries,  the  trifling  cares,  the  quick,  harsh 
word  of  a  neighbor,  all  the  little  things  which  much 
thought  and  anxiety  enlarge  to  portentous  sizes.  It  is 
these  that  eat  into  thy  life,  that  line  thy  face,  that  sear 
and  callous  thy  heart.  The  great  sorrows,  great  tril)u- 
lations  and  losses  sweeten  and  strengthen  thee,  yet 
can  do  so  no  more  than  may  the  little  things,  if  thou 
wouldst  but  stop,  lift  up  their  heads  and  gaze  into  their 
beautiful,  downcast  eyes;  downcast,  for  they  hold  a 
message  for  thee  none  other  may  read. 


245 


THE  PRICE 


SO  LONG  as  fear  of  poverty,  of  death  or  suffering 
can  influence  you  to  withhold  the  whole  or  even 
a  part  of  the  price  demanded  by  the  law  for  your 
perfect  development,  you  will  never  cross  the  threshold 
of  the  Great  Initiation  Chamber.  So  long  as  you  re- 
tain any  part  or  feature  of  the  great  renunciation  ichen 
of  c red  by  you  to  the  Lodge  of  Life,  that  part  or  feat- 
ure will  chain  you  to  the  Cosmic  Wheel,  a  victim  of 
your  own  selflshness  and  dishonesty.  As  Ananias  and 
Saphira  lost  life  and  belongings  through  willful  per- 
version of  the  law,  so  every  Chela  of  the  Lodge  who 
has  demanded  the  service,  love  and  devotion  of  the 
INIasters  in  exchange  for  the  service,  obedience  and  love 
they  offer,  and  who  then  undertake  to  withhold  a  part 
of  the  offering,  must  inevitably  return  to  the  diet  of 
husks,  the  swine — selfish  elements — are  nourished  upon. 

So  long  as  your  demands  remain  unanswered,  and 
your  desire  for  the  husks  is  unappeased,  if  you  will  be 
content  to  remain  with  the  swineherd,  the  higher  law 
will  not  reach  you;  but  you  cannot  wallow  in  the  filth 
of  the  pen  and  treasure  the  husks,  and  at  the  same 
time  stand  before  the  bright  flash  of  the  Sword  of  the 
Spirit  without  being  cloven  in  two. 

The  choice  is  yours;  but,  having  made  the  choice, 
you  must  bear  the  results.  God  will  have  no  divided 
hearts.    It  is  quite  possible  that  Karmic  Law  will  not 


246 


THE  PRICE 

CONTINUED 

accept  a  full  relinquishment  of  all  you  hold  dear,  even 
when  cheerfully  offered,  but  so  long  as  attachment  to 
any  thing  or  creature  prevents  you  from  freely  offer- 
ing up  that  thing  or  creature  upon  the  altar  of  devo- 
tion, the  Holy  Fire  cannot  descend  and  touch  that  offer- 
ing, and  thereby  render  it  of  use.  And  the  lower  fires 
which  form  such  attachments  must  eventually  consume 
the  things  to  which  you  are  attached,  and  leave  you 
desolate  and  comfortless.  Make  no  offer  to  the  Law 
which  you  are  not  fully  prepared  to  have  accepted. 
Keep  all  you  have  and  are  if  such  be  your  desire,  but 
in  keeping  it,  remain  on  the  outside  of  your  own  di- 
vinity. 


247 


THE  POWER  OF  LOVING 


WHAT  matters  it  that  form  and  face  of  tin'  beloved 
grow  feeble,  old  and  wrinkled?  What  matters 
it  that  the  shell  which  held  thy  love  shall  be  in 
time  a  feeding  place  for  worms,  or  even  that  lust  and  all 
iincleanness  shall  leave  their  imprint  on  the  face  that 
thou  hast  pressed  against  thine  own  in  ecstasy  of  pain? 

The  soul  that  thus  expressed  itself  in  form,  that 
part  of  thee  and  me  which  drew  and  called  to  active  life 
the  sleeping  Love  of  Life  dwells  not  in  form  or  face 
of  any  living  thing,  though  in  thy  blindness  thou 
-wouldst  so  confine  it. 

Look  o'er  the  pages  of  thy  life — the  pages  of  the 
open  book  writ  by  the  hand  of  God,  and  thou  shalt  find 
that  like  as  thou  hast  grown  to  man's  estate  by  slowly 
filling  in  the  heavenly  pattern  of  thyself,  day  by  day, 
so  hath  thy  power  of  loving  grown,  and  yet  may  grow 
to  compass  all  the  spheres  of  life. 

That  thing  or  creature  thou  didst  love  witli  all  the 
power  thou  hadst  when  but  a  child,  no  longer  charms 
thine  eye,  though  in  that  charm  didst  truly  manifest  a 
soul  that  after  many  years  again  shone  through  a  fleshly 
form  and  face  which  drew  and  held  thee  fast ;  and  so  again 
shall  love  increase  and  search  the  heavens  to  find  itself. 

When  all  the  lower  fires  of  ])ersonal  possession  shall 
burn  themselves  away,  then  thou  wilt  find  in  every  hu- 
man face,  in  flower  and  tree,  in  wind  and  water,  in  all 
things  and  creatures,  and  finding  never  lose  again,  the 
flawless  soul  that  thou  hast  always  loved,  and  find  it 
waiting  the  glad  hour  when  every  note  of  all  the  won- 
drous Song  of  Life  shall  sound  forth  pure  and  sweet 
for  all  who  list  to  heai-. 

248 


TWILIGHT  AND  DAWN 


WHEN  thy  fellow-pilgrims  turn  from  fulsome 
praise  and  adulation  to  harshest  criticism  and 
vilification  of  the  bearer  of  the  torch  who  is 
blazing  a  trail  through  the  dense  growth  of  the  under- 
world, that  he  may  find  the  Path,  if  thou  wilt  not  be 
turned  from  thine  allegiance,  look  well  that  the  moss 
entwined  stump  of  selfish  desire  o'er  which  thy  brotlier 
has  stumbled  doth  not  trip  thee  also.  Walk  warily,  lest 
the  half-buried  rocks  of  ambition  or  jealous  rage  catch 
thy  feet  and  hold  thee  captive  by  his  side. 

One  extreme  of  life  always  calls  to  the  other,  and 
it  must  respond.  If  thou  wouldst  travel  the  trail  of 
safety,  keep  well  in  the  middle  of  that  trail.  The  light 
of  the  torch  borne  before  thee  throws  flickering  shad- 
ows on  either  side  of  the  trail,  but  burns  clear  and  bright 
on  the  central  line. 

Twilight  must  follow  day.  Xight  doth  not  drop 
its  sable  curtain  in  an  instant.  Dawn  doth  silver  the 
darkness  of  night  e'er  the  Sun  doth  turn  that  darkness 
into  gold. 

So  always,  Twilight  and  Dawn,  silvered  darkness 
and  golden  light,  are  hours  of  consecration — are  always 
places  of  Peace  wherein  the  soul  may  pause  in  the  midst 
of  clamor  to  catch  a  note  of  the  Song  of  Life  and  clear 
its  point  of  vision  if  it  but  walk  in  the  line  of  unwaver- 
ing Truth. 


249 


YOU  MUST  CHOOSE 


LOVE'S  little  ones,  and  therefore  mine,  I  pray  you 
open  wide  the  closed  and  bolted  doors  behind 
which  now  you  sit  in  apathy,  and  let  my  words 
of  tenderness  gain  access  to  your  hearts;  those  doors 
that  you  have  girded  round  about  with  iron  bands  and 
locked  with  golden  locks,  and  panelled  with  the  dross 
of  baser  metals.  Let  me  in,  that  I  may  serve  to  help 
you  drive  the  demons  forth  which  you  unwittingly  en- 
throne in  places  which  the  gods  alone  should  hold — 
the  demons  of  your  pride  of  intellect,  contempt  and 
love  of  adulation.  Fear  not  that  I  shall  seize  upon  the 
treasures  of  the  Soul,  for  are  you  not  mine  own?  and 
shall  I  rob  myself?  I  long  to  lead  you  from  the  paths 
of  loneliness,  of  poverty  and  weakness — INIaya's  gifts, 
which  you,  all  unwitting  of  their  nature,  now  so  eagerly 
accept. 

With  arms  outstretched  I  cry  to  you  and  stand 
aghast  at  your  indifference  to  the  cry,  and  at  my  lack 
of  power  to  pierce  the  aura  of  the  world's  delusions  in 
which  you  are  encased.  The  demons  of  unholy  lire, 
of  water  and  of  air,  aroused  to  fury  now,  and  fed  by 
man's  inhuman  acts,  are  piling  up  their  barriers  of 
brands  'twixt  you  and  those  who  fain  would  serve  you, 
e'en  while  you  meekly  bring  your  quota  of  the  brands 
and  throw  them,  wearily,  upon  the  pile.  The  crackling 
of  the  flames,  the  muttering  of  the  distant  storm,  fall 


250 


YOU  MUST  CHOOSE 


on  your  deadened  ears,  while  here  and  there  a  great  red 
drop  falls  from  low  lying  clouds  and  splashes  on  the 
earth  or  drenches  some  poor  heart  with  life's  woe. 

The  disembodied  fiends  so  long  restrained,  have 
broken  loose,  and  now  are  seizing  upon  the  new-born 
vehicles  of  weak,  impotent  souls,  thus  gaining  instru- 
ments for  use  in  the  great  conflict,  and  yet  you  fail  to 
know  them  even  when  yourselves  have  furnished  them 
with  vehicles — you  are  so  taken  up  with  some  side 
issue,  some  secondary  thing,  which  of  necessity  must 
fall  in  its  own  place  when  once  the  primal,  the  com- 
posite issue  is  fully  recognized  and  holds  its  own. 

The  war  is  on  'twixt  right  and  wrong,  'twixt  heaven 
and  hell,  and  you  must  choose  your  side. 


251 


THE  WILL  TO  LIVE 


AS  BREAKS  the  long,  low  rumble  of  the  surf- 
bound  shore  upon  the  outer  ear,  and  so  accus- 
toms it  to  Nature's  lowest  register  of  tone  that 
it  is  dulled  to  all  the  sweeter,  softer  notes  of  rippling 
brook  and  hum  of  busy  insect,  so  the  loud  tliunder  of 
the  unbound  passions,  the  shrieks  of  mad,  unsatisfied 
Desire  doth  dull  the  inner  ear  of  man,  and  Mill  not  let 
him  hear  the  Soul's  low  cry  for  help  to  find  its  own, 
its  triple  chord,  now  lost  amidst  the  myriad  sounds 
which  beat  the  ether  into  waves  that  break  upon  the 
shores  of  sentient  life  in  ever  widening  curves,  carrying 
on  their  crests  or  in  the  silent  depths  beneath,  the  miss- 
ing tones  which  wait  the  sounding  of  the  key;  that  key 
which  only  can  be  heard  when  all  the  discords,  all  the 
liarsher  sounds  of  life  are  stilled. 

All  naked  and  alone,  bereft  of  hope  and  plunged 
into  abysmal  depths  where  light  nor  sound  may  pene- 
trate, that  lonely  soid  must  wander  incomplete,  its 
smothered  wail  the  only  outlet  for  its  woe.  Xo  power 
it  hath  to  sound  the  key,  recalling  the  lost  notes,  and 
so  completing  the  sweet  chord  which  with  its  volume, 
strength  and  power  w^ould  clothe  that  Soul  with  light 
and  hope  divine.  For,  losing  those  sw^eet  tones  in  Pas- 
sion's drear  domains,  o'er  which  insatiable  Desire  hath 
rule,  it  loses  e'en  the  power  to  make  a  plea  for  help, 
and  so  unceasingly  it  wanders  on  alone  till  myriad  cycles 
pass,  when  once  again  it  mingles  with  the  maze  of  un- 
])orn  Souls  that  wait  the  sounding  of  a  higher  key  than 
that  which  rung  its  birth,  and  wliich  will  call  to  active 
life  the  dead  and  sleeping,  and  the  embryos,  the  other 
victims  of  the  greater  Self, — the  Will  to  live. 

252 


LOOSE  HIM 


^^T     OOSE  him  and  let  him  go."    Unwind  the  swad- 
1.  dhngs   which   you  have   wrapped   ahout   your 
brother  man. 

Your  dogmas,  creeds  and  penances, — your  selfish 
love  as  well  as  hate,  are  chains  which  bind  you  to  the 
"Wheel  of  Woe." 

Forgive  the  debts,  undo  the  chains  you  bound  your 
brother  with  in  duty's  guise.  Loose  him  and  let  him  go, 
and  thou  shalt  ftnd,  not  all  the  chains,  the  debts,  the  bonds 
with  which  you  hold  your  friend  in  thrall  will  draw  and 
hold  him  fast  to  you  as  will  the  knowledge  he  is  free. 
Free  to  wander  w^here  he  will,  free  to  come  and  go,  free 
togiveyou  love  for  love,ortorefusee'en  friendship's  trove. 

Each  thread  of  every  cord  you  use  to  bind  another 
soul  will  bind  you  back,  w^ill  hold  from  you  the  love  you 
crave,  the  service  you  require. 

In  Freedom  lies  thy  strength,  and  Freedom  is  the  Law 
of  Life ;  not  liberty  to  hurt  or  crush  another  part  of  God's 
own  life,  but  liberty  to  render  service  pure,  and  learn  to 
find  in  strict  obedience  to  law  the  goal  of  perfect  life. 

Obedience  to  law,  through  love  of  law  and  order, 
gives  highest  freedom  to  the  soul;  but  man  has  put  the 
bond  of  fear  upon  his  brother  man  and  so  enslaved  him 
to  Illusion,  and  fear  breeds  naught  but  most  abject 
subjection,  and  freezes  into  nothingness  the  slave,  as 
well  as  he  who  doth  enslave. 

Obey  implicitly  the  law  of  Love  and  thou  slialt  not 
be  called  upon  to  sacrifice  aught  save  the  thing  thou 
needest  not;  but  first  be  sure  thou  knowest  Love,  and 
hast  not  clothed  it  in  the  slimy  garb  of  self-indulgence, 
thus  paving  wide  the  way  for  self-annihilation. 

253 


THE  MILESTONES 


THUS  saith  the  Father  to  me,  His  child: 
As  the  stars  in  their  courses  fought  against 
Sisera,  even  so  will  I,  the  Lord  thy  God,  fight 
against  the  stars  if  so  be  they  lead  mine  own  into  the 
stronghold  of  the  Great  Shadow. 

Even  the  stars  are  the  work  of  my  hands,  and  thou 
shalt  not  put  the  work  of  my  hands  in  the  seat  of  my 
power. 

Thou  art  long  in  learning  that  the  fierceness  of  my 
jealousy  is  the  fierceness  of  the  world  mother  who  would 
protect  her  young  from  the  poisonous  fangs  of  the  ser- 
pent; the  fierceness  of  the  jealousy  of  the  father  who 
refuses  to  deliver  his  only  son  to  the  maw  of  the  hungry 
tiger,  yet  would  gladly  yield  that  son  to  satisfy  the 
Higher  Law;  the  fierceness  of  the  jealousy  which  would 
sweep  the  dark  stars  from  the  skies  did  they  bar  the 
way  to  the  heart  of  the  least  of  my  little  ones. 

Truly  is  it  said,  "All  things  work  together  for  good 
to  those  who  love  God,"  but  e'er  thou  canst  interpret  the 
promise  aright,  thou  must  learn  to  know  the  nature  of 
such  love  as  is  demanded  by  thy  God.  What  seemeth 
good  to  fhec  may  l)e  the  settling  of  some  shadow  of  a 
higher  good,  and  in  thy  haste  it  may  be  thou  wilt  seize 
the  shadow,  wrap  it  closely  round  about  thee,  and  so 
cut  off  the  light  by  which  alone  the  higher  good  may 
manifest  to  thee. 


254 


THE  MILESTONES 

CONTINUED 

If  e'en  an  angel  host  should  bid  thee  turn  from 
what  thou  knowest  is  the  path  of  right,  bid  them  turn 
about  and  seek  the  Father  once  again  and  so  make  sure 
they  have  not  erred. 

Far  down  that  beautiful  broad  path  the  perfected 
have  made  'twixt  thee  and  me,  doth  also  creep  the 
wayward  and  the  erring;  and  not  all  the  words  which 
fall  upon  thine  ear, — not  all  the  sights  which  meet  thine 
eyes,  are  for  thy  quick  unfolding. 

The  pitcher  which  today  is  filled  with  pure  and 
sparkling  water  from  a  living  spring  may  ere  another 
sun  be  set  be  filled  with  poisoned  wine,  and  all  who 
drink  thereof  may  meet  an  agonizing  death.  The  mile- 
stones on  the  Path  are  plainly  marked.  The  contents  of 
the  pitcher  indicate  their  character.  Why,  then,  be  de- 
ceived, and  let  thy  lack  of  patience,  or  thy  greediness 
for  power  or  place,  or  things  of  spirit  or  of  body,  lead 
thee  into  byways,  or  quench  thy  thirst  with  that  which 
breeds  a  greater  thirst  and  ends  in  death? 


255 


THE  PEACE  OF  ALL  FULFILMENTS 


YE  RESTLESS  wanderers  of  the  worlds,  who  find 
no  place  on  Earth  or  Sea  or  Sky  on  which  to 
plant  a  foot  and  anchor  there,  those  rapidly  pul- 
sating vehicles  of  the  Soul  you  pamper  or  abuse  at  will, 
while  seeking  surcease  from  the  stress  and  strain  the 
Jinns  have  laid  upon  you. 

Know  ye  not,  when  first  you  yielded  to  the  driving 
power  of  Fohat  which  sent  j^ou  forth  on  an  unceasing 
search  for  Lethe's  streams,  or  for  the  apples  of  Hes- 
perides,  you  opened  wide  the  door  which  led  into  the 
closed  and  secret  place  of  the  soul;  you  wrenched  apart 
the  close-bound  strands  of  that  golden  cord  which  held 
your  Souls  in  leash  that  they  might  learn  the  lessons 
which  a  single  point  in  space  can  teach  as  well  and  bet- 
ter far  than  all  the  leagues  of  Earth  and  Sea  and  Sky 
that  you  have  traveled  o'er?  Heedlessly  ye  have  in- 
voked the  restless  elementals  of  the  lower  spheres  to 
make  their  homes  within  your  Souls.  And  they  have 
now  seized  the  reins  of  power  and  drive  you  round  about 
according  to  their  whims,  that  they  may  minister  to 
their  desire  for  ceaseless  motion.  Day  by  day  your 
power  of  seeking  Silence,  Peace,  and  all  that  Wisdom 
born  of  consecrated  effort,  slowly  wanes  and  leaves  you 
tenfold  more  the  slave  you  were.  Your  eyes  are  blind- 
ed by  the  dust  satiety  has  flung  therein,  and  like  a  ship 
with  rudder  gone  and  anchor  buried  fathoms  deep  be- 


256 


THE  PEACE  OF  ALL  FULFILMENTS 


CONTINUED 


neath  the  ocean's  wave,  you  drift  about  with  ne'er  a 
port  in  sight,  in  total  ignorance  of  the  truth  that  ye  are 
but  the  sport  of  creatures  you  would  cast  derision  on, 
if  once  your  eyes  were  opened  to  the  light  of  your  di- 
vinity and  hidden  power  o'er  lower  forms  of  life.  Wake 
up,  tear  off  the  bandage  from  your  eyes,  find  your  niche, 
and  labor  for  your  fellow-man,  close  fast  those  wide- 
flung;  doors,  and  seek  the  Silence  and  the  Peace  of  all 
fulfilment. 


257 


YOUR  DEFEATS 

YOU  gauge  the  value  of  what  you  deem  your  great- 
est achievements  by  the  measure  of  success  which 
has  followed  your  strongest  efforts,  but  in  the 
days  to  come,  when  the  mists  have  fallen  from  your  eyes, 
and  you  sum  up  the  results  of  your  life  work,  you  will 
find  to  your  great  surprise  that  the  defeats  which  you 
have  suffered,  the  blows  which  have  bowed  your  heads 
the  lowest,  have  always  held  the  real  values.  Your  suc- 
cesses may  have  taken  you  nearly  to  the  JNIount  of 
Transfiguration,  but  your  defeats  will  have  carried  you 
up  and  over  the  top  of  that  mount. 


258 


THE  SOUL  REDEEMED 


SWEETER  than  any  song  of  thrush,  softer  than 
the  wood-dove's  coo  to  its  mate,  tender  as  the  touch 
of  dawn  on  the  eyes  of  a  sleep-bound  child,  falls 
the  voice  and  touch  of  the  Over-soul  on  the  weary  Pil- 
grim of  Days. 

Many  times  and  oft  in  the  night  of  the  past  hath  he 
closed  his  eyes  and  said,  "Surely  my  Lord  will  awaken 
me  from  this  awful  nightmare  of  Life  ere  another  sun 
shall  greet  mine  eyes.  I  am  bound  and  helpless  in  the 
morass  of  the  the  world's  worst  woe,  and,  alas!  there  are 
none  to  hear  if  I  call,  or  drag  me  forth,  for  all  of  my 
kin  are  bound  as  am  I,  and  smothered  in  viscid  mud, 
while  I  alone  of  human  kind  am  left  w^ith  head  above 
its  slimy  ooze." 

But  e'en  as  he  cried,  lo!  the  dark  clouds  parted,  his 
feet  were  loosed,  and  with  lightning  speed  an  Angel 
came  down  and  bade  him  rise  and  follow  on,  to  the 
feet  of  the  Lord  of  Life  and  Death. 

At  last  fall  the  scales  from  the  blinded  eyes.  In  the 
glory  of  Soul  redeemed  stands  he  forth,  poised  on  the 
eartii  like  a  bird  on  the  wing.  He  asks  of  the  sea,  the 
sky  and  the  earth,  "Is  it  worth  it  all?  Is  it  worth  the 
anguish,  the  pain,  the  loss,  to  hear  that  voice,  to  feel 
that  touch?"  And  from  every  fibre,  from  all  live  things, 
from  the  heavens  and  hells,  in  melody  sweet,  again  and 
again,  rises  and  echoes  in  vibrant  tones,  as  with  one 
great  voice,  the  words  of  the  saved:  "Aye,  it  is  worth 
all  earth  can  give,  all  sun  and  moon  and  stars  can  offer." 

259 


LIGHT  OF  THE  SOUL 

THINKEST  thou  to  win  discrimination  when,  like 
a  weathercock,  thou  veerest  to  one  side  or  an- 
other according  as  the  wind  hsteth? 
Force  thine  unwilhng  feet,  weighted  with  the  mud 
of  sense,  to  walk  straightly  in  thy  chosen  path,  that 
thou  mayest  quicker  reach  the  golden  light  upon  the 
mountain-top,  and  bathe  thy  soul  in  its  pure  radiance. 


260 


TO  THE  WORLD 


DEGENERATE  Scions  of  a  dying  Age!— 
As  a  man  freeth  corruption  from  his  nostrils, 
so  will  I  cast  you  forth  by  the  wind  of  my  dis- 
content. Back  shall  ye  return  to  the  darkness  whence 
ye  came — rebellious,  quarrelsome,  inhuman  spawn  of 
an  evil  age, — abortions  of  my  soul's  travail,  who  will 
neither  heed  the  moan  of  your  own  sad  hearts  or  the 
thunderous  waves  of  a  nation's  woe,  lest  greedy  lust 
for  place  and  power  remain  unsatisfied ;  lest  your  bodies 
— the  feeding  place  of  worms — be  less  daintily  fed  and 
clothed  upon  with  fine  raiment. 

Long  aeons  have  I  reached  out  to  you  in  beseeching, 
and  ye  pass  me  by  unheeding. 

As  breaketh  forth  the  sweat  o'er  the  straining  mus- 
cles of  the  strong  man,  so  outpour  I  the  dew  of  my 
longing,  and  ye  will  not  see  nor  listen. 

Ye  force  the  action  of  the  Great  Law  upon  your 
heads,  and  I,  its  minister,  must  needs  serve,  to  your 
undoing. 


261 


LIFT  THOU  THINE  EYES  TO  GOD 

CHILD  of  The  Eternal— listen!  Know  that 
though  scorched  by  the  sun  of  desert  sands; 
lashed  back  by  the  furious  ocean's  waves;  struck 
motionless  by  the  power  of  the  Ice-Angel,  with  the 
wings  of  thy  soul  as  the  wings  of  a  bird  when  the  Storm- 
King  has  beaten  them  close  to  its  breast;  know,  son  of 
the  sun,  even  yet  thou  art  not  vanquished.  Thou  art 
more  than  conqueror  through  the  illimitable  love  of  that 
compassionate  heart  upon  which  thy  head  is  pillowed. 
Cover  thou  thy  breast  with  the  shield  of  patience.  Re- 
member— the  burning  heat  of  the  noontide  glides  slow- 
ly, imperceptibly,  into  the  cool  of  evening.  The  mount- 
ain glaciers  melt  in  the  warmth  of  Spring  and,  drop  by 
drop,  water  the  thirsty  valley  below.  Earth  and  sky 
meet  and  kiss  in  a  blaze  of  unspeakable  glory.  And 
thou,  son  of  my  heart,  though  cast  in  the  depths  of  de- 
pravity, weakness,  or  weariness,  may  rise  to  immeas- 
ureable  heights,  by  lifting  thine  eyes  to  God. 

Say  not,  "I  am  but  a  leaf  in  the  wind."    Say,  rath- 
er, "I  am  of  God— in  God." 


262 


THE  ETERNAL  WARFARE 

AH,  mystery  of  Life,  mystery  of  Death,  mystery 
of  Evil!  Only  Infinite  Love  can  sound  your 
depths.  Only  Faith  can  impart  the  power  by 
which  a  glimpse  of  that  Love  may  be  seen.  ]Man  is 
always  at  war  with  himself.  He  unfolds  a  flag  of  truce 
now  and  then  when  the  battle  becomes  so  fierce  that 
mind,  sense  or  physical  power  is  on  the  verge  of  col- 
lapse, till  he  regains  his  breath  and  starts  in  again. 
And  this  continual  battle  is  an  absolute  necessity,  for 
only  through  it  can  he  win  his  crown  of  power  and  en- 
durance. ]Man  could  not  live  with  himself  on  any  other 
terms. 


263 


THE  WHEEL  OF  SUFFERING 


THE  wrongs  done  to  or  against  you  by  others  may 
be  made  stepping  stones  for  you,  if  you  have  the 
courage  to  lift  your  feet  high  enough  from  the 
ground  to  reach  them.  So  long  as  a  wrong  can  embitter 
you,  and  so  long  as  you  attract  the  commission  of  such 
wrongs,  either  by  wronging  others,  or  by  personal  lim- 
itations of  any  character,  the  invincible  power  of  love 
will  hold  you  to  the  wheel  of  suffering. 

It  takes  poor,  struggling  humanity  long,  long  ages 
to  learn  that  divine  Justice  will  never  suffer  a  wrong  to 
be  done  which  is  not  at  the  same  time  a  punishment  for 
a  similar  wrong,  and  a  vast  opportunitv  to  wipe  out  a 
debt. 

The  stronger,  the  better  equipped  for  service  is  the 
Neophyte,  the  greater  will  be  his  or  her  tests  of  patience, 
endurance  and  compassion.  The  very  attributes  which 
make  him  useful  and  valuable  to  the  Temple  work,  and 
therefore  to  the  w^orld,  at  the  same  time  must  bring 
long  seasons  of  heart  hunger,  trial  and  mental  strain, 
until  he,  like  all  those  who  tread  the  same  path,  can 
lay  his  burden  in  the  lap  of  the  Great  INIother,  and  say 
from  his  heart,  "It  matters  not  what  my  brother,  my 
sister  may  do  to  me,  only  give  me  more  love  for  them, 
and  I  am  content." 

"I  can  safely  leave  the  punishment  of  any  offense 
done  to  me  to  the  Divine  Law,  but  woe  is  me,  if  I 
dwell  with  delight  upon  the  nature,  and  application  of 
that  punishment,  for  by  so  doing  I  lift  my  head  from 
the  Mother's  la]),  and  gaze  into  the  eyes  of  the  avenger 
of  mine  own  offense." 

264 


THE  PAIN  OF  PROGRESS 


FORCE  not  the  hand  of  Nature,  lest  you  stir  to 
action  such  antagonistic  forces  as  now  lie  inert 
or  sleeping,  and  so  deliberately  draw  down  upon 
your  head  that  which  as  yet  is  but  a  formless  fear  and 
dread  of  coming  evil. 

Grasp  with  firm  and  steady  hand  devotion's  sieve 
that  holdeth  thy  life's  happiness  aloft ;  a  single  careless, 
trembling  touch  and  lo!  the  finest  grains  are  shaken 
through  the  meshes,  and  blown  hither  and  yon  by  the 
first  fierce  wind  of  selfish  longing,  leaving  naught  but 
the  coarse  and  weighty  sands  of  satiated  pleasure. 

Xo  man  ascends  towards  the  stars  without  arousing 
the  ire  of  the  yelping  curs  of  earth. 


265 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  SOUL 


STOP!  weary,  sun-smitten  traveler  o'er  the  desert 
sands  of  ages  jDast.  Rest  ye  awhile  where  the  broad 
leaves  of  the  trees  that  grow  in  the  Garden  of  the 
Soul  may  fan  thy  fevered  brow.  List  to  the  Song  of 
Life,  rising  and  falling,  cleaving  the  air,  trilling  in  ec- 
stasy, melting  in  sweetness,  as  it  ripples  from  the  swell- 
ing throat  of  the  Bird  of  Hope.  Heed  not  the  words 
of  the  Spirit  of  Death,  re-echoing  along  thy  backward 
track,  where  "Hope  lay  dead  and  Life  was  not  worth 
the  living." 

Only  the  dead  in  Life,  the  heartless  devotees  of  the 
Calf  of  Gold,  which  standeth  knee  deep  in  thine  own 
and  thy  Brother's  blood,  may  say  in  truth  that  Hope 
for  them  is  dead. 

Thou — beloved — who  art  only  aweary,  come  with 
Me  into  the  Garden  of  the  Soul  and  rest,  till  thine  eyes 
canst  behold  and  bear  the  Light  of  I^ife. 


266 


RELIGHT  THY  TORCH 


KNOW  ye  not,  weary,  disappointed,  rebellious 
child  of  the  Master, — thou  in  whose  heart,  faith, 
hope  and  ambition  languish  and  die  through  thy 
Brother's  sin  or  failure, — that  thou  alone  art  respon- 
sible for  the  effect  of  that  failure  upon  thyself?  For 
thou  alone  didst  impart  it  power  to  hurt  thee  by  ac- 
cepting that  which  was  but  a  means  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  a  great  purpose,  for  the  purpose  itself. 

Thine  alone  is  the  fault  if  thou  dost  not  compel 
even  that  failure  to  assist  thee  in  mounting  the  step  be- 
yond. 

None  other  can  harm  thee,  none  other  can  hinder 
thy  progress.    Thou  alone  art  the  way  to  thy  true  self. 

Rise  up  from  the  mire  into  which  thou  art  thrown 
and  travel  onward.  ^layhap  thou  shalt  overtake  thy 
Lord. 


267 


LIFE'S  SHINE  AND  SHADOW 

IF  THE  Path  seem  long  and  dark  to  you  who  look 
back  on  life's  lessons  from  such  a  narrow  point  of 

consciousness,  how  think  you  it  appears  to  us  who, 
from  the  altitude  of  centuries  of  ceaseless  labor,  of  hope 
deferred,  still  work  on  with  the  Law  even  when  no 
light  be  visible?  For  know  the  radiant  light  of  fulfilled 
purpose  may  not  dawn  for  us  until  it  dawns  for  you 
we  are  all  bound  to  the  same  wheel  of  change. 

I,  who  would  comfort  you  with  my  own  comfort 
can  only  bid  you  love  more,  hope  more,  trust  more 
work  more, — for,  see!  the  first  trembling  rays  from  the 
newly  risen  Sun  of  Life  even  now  gild  the  mountain 
top,  and  the  shifting  shadows  at  its  base  ])artially  re 
veal  the  glory  to  be  made  manifest  when  cyclic  law  has 
done  its  work. 

Cast  forth,  then,  the  demon  of  discontent;  it  can 
undo  in  one  day  many  years  of  toil;  and,  my  children, 
do  not  forget  that  you  yourselves  have  invoked  your 
Karmic  shadows,  so  be  patient — even  with  the  shad- 
ows. 


268 


THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  PATH 


ONE  day  the  earthly  sun  will  darken  before  thine 
eyes.  Xaked  and  alone  the  Angel  of  the  Path 
will  thrust  thee  forth  from  the  haunts  of  men  to 
seek  and  find  thine  own,  or  to  wander  in  dark  places 
evermore  in  thralldom  unto  things. 

Thyself  a  shadow,  thou  shalt  come  to  Hades'  shad- 
owy vistas  and  with  soft  footfall  glide  from  place  to 
place,  until  thy  soul's  awakened  eyes  behold  the  blazing 
Arch  of  Triumph  which  separates  that  hell  from 
heaven. 

Then  the  stern  Guardian  standing  there  will  say: 
"What  bringest  thou  to  me  that  I  should  let  thee  pass?" 

Xone  other  gift  than  Love  will  he  accept;  all  else 
he  spurns  as  worthless  chaff.  So,  gather  thou  each  day 
the  seeds  from  which  Love  sprouts — the  kindly  deed, 
the  tender  touch,  or  thou  wilt  be  left  standing  on  the 
farther  side  with  only  thy  lost  opportunities  to  think 
upon,  thyself  a  shadow  to  the  end. 


269 


THE  LENS  OF  THE  SOUL 

BE  NOT  deceived.  Only  the  pure  in  heart  see  God. 
Thou  canst  not  defile  the  lens  of  thy  soul  by  im- 
pure and  selfish  thought  and  behold  the  divine 
through  such  a  medium.  For  the  deceptive  lights  and 
shadows  cast  thereon  do  but  hinder  the  reflections  of 
aught  higher  than  the  false  images  pictured  in  thine 
heart,  and  thou  art  lost  to  all  but  the  self-created  mirage 
of  false  and  fleeting  vision  where  darkness  seemeth  as 
light, — the  darkness  of  Self  in  which  no  ray  of  the  Di- 
vine Sun  of  Life  can  manifest  its  presence. 

As  a  lily  raiseth  its  head  to  the  sun,  so  raise  thou 
thy  soul  to  God,  that  the  dew  of  Divine  Love  may 
search  out  and  help  to  uncover  its  hidden  Heart  of 
Gold. 


270 


THE  LAW  FULFILED 


BELIEVEST  thou,  O  son  of  Earth's  travail,  that 
while  the  meanest  serf  remains  a  serf,  thou  canst 
be  free?  that  while  one  child's  low  moan  of  pain 
ascends  the  spheres,  pure  joy  may  be  thy  portion? 

Water  seeks  its  level  by  a  law  divine.  No  less  di- 
vine— unalterable,  the  law  that  makes  thy  brother's  joy 
thy  joy,  that  so  the  level  of  human  bliss  and  agony  be 
found,  and  wisdom  justified. 

If  thou  wouldst  reach  perfection,  lift  the  stone  that 
crushes  to  earth  a  tiny  violet,  a  blade  of  grass.  Bear 
with  thy  brother — share  his  weight  of  woe;  pour  of 
thine  own  abundance  into  his  lap  if  he  be  needy. 

Bind  up  the  wound  thine  enemy  received  in  strife 
with  thee,  and  so  aid  in  the  final  great  adjustment  of 
mortal  man  and  things.  The  Law  fulfiled  will  open 
up  the  path  to  God,  now  closed  and  barred  by  self. 


271 


JUDGE  NOT 


WHO — what  art  thou,  delusion  of  evil,  in  the 
guise  of  man,  that  darest  persecution  of  the 
Eternal,  that  rendereth  false  judgment  upon 
the  Absolute?  God  and  Christ  dwelleth  in  every  atom 
of  Substance,  Force  and  Consciousness.  Thou  canst 
not  lay  a  feather's  weight  of  condemnation  on  another 
and  let  God  and  Christ  go  free. 

Hidden  within  thine  own  heart  is  every  evil  thou 
imputest  to  tliy  brother.  Destroy  it  in  thyself  and  thou 
shalt  never  more  behold  it  in  thv  brother. 


272 


UNSELFISH  LOVE 

MY  CHILD: — Canst  thou  not  strive  to  consider 
the  daily  martyrdom  of  thy  friend,  thy  wife, 
thy  husband — the  one  that  loves  thee  most 
unselfishly,  the  one  to  whom  thou  art  as  a  star,  how- 
ever unworthy,  however  cold,  careless  and  unloving  in 
deed  and  truth — the  one  whose  heart  sings  a  song  of 
sweetness  throughout  a  hard  day's  toil — at  a  single 
kind  or  tender  word  from  thee?  O,  blind  and  foolish 
one — thou  who  strivest  with  all  thy  power  to  lay  up 
earthly  treasures — all  unthinking  that  the  unselfish 
love  of  a  human  being  for  thee  is  thy  opportunity  for 
laying  up  priceless  treasures  throughout  the  ages  to 
come. 


273 


THE  INNER  TEMPLE 

IF  ALL  about  thee  seem  to  sj^eak  of  sorrow,  and  the 
face  of  God  is  turned  away  from  thee;  if  nowhere 

on  the  earth  there  seems  to  be  a  refuge  for  breaking 
hearts  or  minds  unhinged  by  longing;  if  httle  children's 
cries  awake  the  echoes  in  thine  heart  of  long  dead  ages 
when  the  cries  of  other  little  ones  ascended  to  the  skies 
through  sacrificial  flames;  if  rest  and  peace  have  taken 
wings  and  flown  away  from  thee  and  from  thy  kind;  if 
music  hath  no  longer  charm,  and  art  no  solace,  and  the 
way  to  love  seems  closed  to  thee;  if  fear  of  death  is 
swallowed  up  in  fear  of  living,  and  all  thy  labor  seems 
to  be  in  vain; — then  come  with  me,  my  child.  Keep 
close  to  me  until  thy  search  is  ended,  and  thou  hast 
reached  the  place  of  silence — place  of  peace — the  Tem- 
ple in  thine  inmost  heart. 

When  thou  shalt  reach  that  Temple's  door  and 
knock  ariglit,  then  shalt  thou  find  it  opening  wide  into 
the  heart  of  every  other  living  thing;  and  in  some  one 
of  all  those  wondrous  spaces  shalt  thou  find  the  answers 
to  thy  hardest  questions,  and  surcease  from  thy  deepest 
woes. 

Nowhere  else  upon  the  earth  or  in  the  heavens  can 
the  key  be  found  that  will  unlock  God's  Jewel  case; 
but  on  its  burnished  sides  in  deeply  carven  letters  are 
the  clues  to  that  which  lies  within, — and  they  are  hid- 
den in  the  words.  Faith,  Hope,  Service. 


274 


CEASE,  AND  SING 


CEASE  your  moaning"  and  your  wailing,  ye  en- 
listed soldiers  of  the  Army  of  your  God.  Did 
ever  soldier  win  his  spurs,  win  command  of  bat- 
tling legions,  who  at  sight  of  guns  and  sabers,  battle- 
fields and  wounds,  fell  out  of  line  or  cringed  in  terror 
and  despair?  Beat  it  into  dull  and  sodden  minds  if  ye 
needs  nuist,  that  never  was  a  just  and  righteous  cause 
left  undefended,  nor  was  it  lost  for  aye.  Nay,  not  even  if 
it  sank  from  sight  of  man  for  days  or  years ;  not  even  if 
the  last  defender  perished  in  the  final  battle  fought;  like 
a  buried  seed,  in  time,  it  sprang  into  a  newer,  higher  life, 
tenfold  the  stronger,  tenfold  the  surer  of  success  for  all 
the  bloodshed,  all  the  tears  that  watered  its  first  growth. 

What  right  have  you  to  ride  serenely  on  above  the 
heads  of  those  who  fight,  and  never  strike  a  blow  your- 
self in  your  defense?  Or  that  you  should  escape  the 
common  lot  of  men  and  soldiers  fighting  for  a  cause  on 
which  now  rests  the  fate  of  nations  yet  unborn?  Or 
that  your  limbs,  the  air  you  breathe,  the  flesh  you  bear, 
escape  the  rej^tile's  coils  and  breath  and  fangs, — the 
rank  abuse,  the  slanderous  tongues,  the  crushing  of 
your  hearts  by  coward's  blows?  Can  you  not  bear  what 
weaker  men  have  bravely  borne, — the  burden  of  their 
fellowmen, — and  hold  your  heads  on  high,  and  smile 
and  sing?  Aye,  sing  so  loud  and  strong  that  not  a  note 
of  all  the  discord  on  the  field  below  may  strike  your  ear? 

Ah,  if  you  can  but  do  my  bidding,  then  are  you 
children  of  the  King,  soldiers  of  the  cross  of  Christ — 
the  symbol  of  eternal  life  for  all  the  World.— Then 
are  you  on  the  road  that  leads  to  where  the  Hosts  of 
Light  now^  stand  and  beckon  you,  the  road  to  ^Mastery. 

275 


A  CLARION  CALL 


FIGHT!  for  fight  you  must,  you  Children  of  the 
Covenant,  or  shirk  the  task  set  hy  your  own  Di- 
vine Self. 

Look  where  you  may,  in  all  life's  domains,  no  sjDot 
or  place  will  meet  your  eye  where  battle  doth  not  rage. 

Would  you,  of  all  the  myriad  lives  on  earth,  in 
cowardice  cast  down  your  shield,  remove  your  armor, 
lie  supinely  down,  and  claim  the  fruits  of  all  the  labor, 
all  the  strife  between  the  Sons  of  Light  and  the  Broth- 
ers of  the  Shadow?  between  TJie  Perfected  and  all  the 
Lethe-drunken  scions  of  a  dying  age?  and  never  strike 
a  blow  to  prove  yourself  a  worthy  foe,  or  aid  in  the  de- 
fense of  all  the  right  and  privilege  so  hardly  won!  Can 
you  refuse  to  guard  the  fortress  and  protect  the  over- 
wearied, scarred  and  broken  veterans  whose  right  to 
longer  fight  has  been  denied,  or  guide  the  footsteps  of 
the  feeble  and  faint-hearted — the  helpless  "little  ones"? 

The  hardest  fight  of  all  the  ages  past  is  on,  and  fight 
you  must  if  you  would  pave  the  way  for  the  return  of 
those  who  fought  in  a  lost  cause  and  gave  their  lives 
that  you  might  live  and  win  the  martyr's  crown  that 
they  now^  wear — that  crown  which  is  an  open-sesame  to 
all  the  Thrones— the  Powers — of  Heaven  and  Earth. 

Gird  tightly  on  your  loose-worn  weapons.  Buckle 
fast  your  yet  unsteady  headpiece,  and  strike,  while  strike 
you  may,  at  all  the  enemies  entrenched  in  that  frail 


276 


A  CLARION  CALL 

CONTINUED 

heart  of  yours,  and  die,  if  die  you  must,  with  face 
turned  toward  the  foe,  content  that  hfe  has  given  you 
a  chance  to  fight,  instead  of  swathing  you  with  bands 
that  hopelessly  ensnare  and  hold  the  human  soul. 

Be  great,  because  of  that  your  greatness  hath  the 
power  to  overcome,  and  fight  till  victory  is  yours,  and 
yours  the  right  to  stand  erect  and  unabashed  before  the 
very  face  of  God. 


277 


WARRIORS  OF  LIGHT 


<^TT  r  ARRIORS  of  Light,  Warriors  of  Truth,  I 
Y  y  salute  you,  in  the  name  of  the  Great  White 
Brotherhood.  Go  forth  to  battle,  with  the 
Powers  of  Darkness,  armed  with  the  Sword  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  the  Breastplate  of  Righteousness,  the 
Helmet  of  Eternal  Truth.  See  to  it,  then,  that  no  stain 
rest  on  that  armor,  no  rust  on  that  sword,  that  ye  may 
become  one  with  us,  on  that  Great  Day;  'Be  With  Us.' " 


278 


Copyright,  1914 

THE  TEMPLE  OF  THE  PEOPLE 

Halcyon,  Cal. 


Press  of  M.  A.  Donohue  &  Co.,  Chicago 


The  foregoing  messages  were 
received  by  The  Temple  of 
the  People,  Halcyon,  Califor- 
nia, and  published  in  their 
magazine,  The  Temple  Artizan. 


399504 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


From  the  Mountain  Top 
ERRATA 

In  third  paragraph,  for  "covered,"  read  uncovered. 

Page  30,  second  paragraph,  for  "helplessly,"  read  hope- 
lessly. 

Page  39,  second  paragraph,  for  "bertrayer,"  read  be- 
trayer. 

Page  55,  first  paragraph,  for  "selfishness,"  read  self- 
lessness. 

Page  56,  for  "lights,"  read  lightens. 
Page  89,  first  paragraph,  for  "hearts,"  read  ears. 
Page  124,  second  paragraph,  for  "losses"  read  loosed. 
Page  153,  first  paragraph,  for  "selfless,"  read  self. 
Page  159,  fifth  paragraph,  for  "crown,"  read  crowning. 
Page  171,  third  paragraph,  for  "band,"  read  bond. 
Page  171,  fourth  paragraph,  for  "very,"  read  every. 
Page  172,  second  paragraph,  for  "once,"  read  over. 
Page  202,  second  paragraph,  for  "bruises"  read  briers. 
Page  205,  first  paragraph,  for  "through  the  steep  moun- 
tain," read  up  through  the  mountain  side. 


